Complications
by midnightmich
Summary: She should have seen this coming, really she should have, but she didn't think they would find out her gender that quickly. "I'm sorry." she muttered tears streaming down her face "I'm sorry I lied to you" Things just got more complicated. Full Sum inside
1. Seigaku Here I Am

Complications of tennis (Better title will come...I think.)

**I really shouldn't be making another story, but Prince of Tennis…It's something I can relate to man! I play tennis and Never would I have thought someone would have made an anime out of it! I just had to write a story about it. So Here it is, another story which will take just as long to update as my other ones. Enjoy~**

**Summary: All Mitsu Yukimura wanted was her father to finally show her love that she never had for the last ten years of her life. She figured if she could be really good at tennis then perhaps her father, a Pro Tennis player, would finally show her love that she so desires. With the help of her cousin Seiichi Yukimura she slowly became a tennis player to not be messed with. However, her father didn't approve of her training and sent her to live with her grandparents on her mother's side that recently moved to Japan. Still determined to show her father that she was worthy of his affection, she now strives to become a strong tennis player and compete in the U.S open. In order to do that she has to go to a middle school and the closest school near her grandparent's house is the famous Seigaku, where the ****boy's**** tennis club is famous for their players. A perfect place for her to join…her only problem…she was a girl. It couldn't be that hard to impersonate a boy…right?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis only my OC character Mitsu.**

**Talking: **Hello

**Thinking: **_What the heck!_

**Tennis Moves: ****Twist Serve!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mitsu's POV<strong>_

"Hey Mom, it's my first day of middle school. It's pretty nerve racking, going to a private school after being homeschooled for pretty much my whole life. I'm going to Seigaku and I'm going to join the tennis club there. Hopefully I'll make the team." I said fondly to a photo frame that had a picture of a young black haired woman smiling at the camera with a child of two years hugging her.

"Mitsu-chan you're going to be late." An elderly woman called from the floor below. I jumped up in surprise before I grabbed my bookcase and racket case before I headed out of my room.

"Coming Baa-chan. Bye Mom, see you when I come back!" I said as I grabbed my lunch that my grandfather held out for me as I rushed towards the door. "Bye Baa-chan Ojii-san." I said as I rushed pasted them.

"Bye Mitsu—I mean Ryu." My grandma corrected herself. "Have fun in school." I gave them one last smile before I ran towards the corner of the street to catch the bus that was ready to leave. Once I safely made it inside, I took a seat at the back of the well kept bus and looked out the window of the bus, watching the cars race by us.

_Mom, please watch over me and help me get on the tennis team at Seigaku. Maybe then…Dad will finally recognize me as his daughter for once._ I sighed as I took out a sketch pad and drew for the rest of the bus ride to school.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Mitsu Yukimura the daughter of a very famous pro tennis player, Kyo Yukimura, one of the best—If not THE best Japanese Tennis Player out there—next to Nanjiro Echizen. They still play with each other…when they're actually in the same country for once. I'm fifteen years old, I have…well _had_ long black hair until Bunta cut it a couple of days ago to match his hair style and I have light bright blue eyes. As you probably already noticed, I have a photo of my mom which means….yeah she died a while back, when I was about..four or five. I don't remember much what happened, but Dad said she died in an accident but that's all. After that…my Dad has been pretty distant with me, never going to places with me, ignoring everything that I've done to impress him…it's like he's ashamed of me. So one day I came up with a brilliant idea, an idea that a five year old could come up with, that if I acted more like my dad, then perhaps he would notice me more. He really loved playing tennis, so I figured if I played tennis just as good as him, then he would finally notice me.

As my father took me to his practice matches with my Uncle and cousin Seiichi-chan (who at the time was learning from both my father and Uncle) I watched his matches and memorized his movements and stances he used during the match. As the weekend came, I would ask my father to send me over to Seiichi-chan's place where I persuaded Uncle to help me learn tennis so I could one day impress my father. He eventually agreed and thus began my lessons for tennis.

Surprisingly, the lessons went really well, probably because Seiichi-chan and I always competed with each other on every drill, and eventually, Uncle said that with more practice, I would have a high chance of going to the U.S Open and actually win some games. With that goal in mind, I pushed myself even harder and I even came up with some of my own moves. Both Uncle and Seiichi-chan were proud at my accomplishments, and when Seiichi-chan entered middle school, he still continued to help me play tennis along with his team as they became familiar with me. But alas, all good things must come to an end.

During Seiichi-chan's second year of middle school (I would be in the same grade as him, if I ever went to private school), my Dad somehow caught wind of the secret tennis lessons that I had been taking and got mad at me. I tried asking why he was upset at me, I mean, I only wanted to learn how to play tennis so he could be proud of me. But he didn't give me a straight answer and sent me to live with my grandparents on my mother's side. That was last year, I haven't seen him since and I have yet to get a straight answer from him.

So that's where I am now. Just a couple of weeks ago, my grandparents decided to send me to a private school, since I had the brains for one, and I was conveniently close to Seigaku. I heard about their famous tennis club, mainly the boy's tennis club, and I instantly made up my mind to join them. With Dad not here; he could not tell me not to play tennis and I still had my goal to become one of the best tennis players so I could enter the U.S open and the tennis club could help me with that goal. I only had one problem…I was a girl and it was only the Seigaku boys tennis club that was famous, not the girls.

So I had to convince my grandparents, Seiichi-chan and surprisingly the Rikkaidai tennis club, to let me join the Seigaku tennis club…as a boy. That day was hell; luckily my grandparents gave in, Seiichi-chan eventually let me do as I pleased, as well as some of the tennis club, there were some of the tennis club members that opposed my idea, (as expected) but the majority agreed to let me do what I wanted and now I'm off to Seigaku as Ryu Honda.

"Hey, are you getting off or what?" a voice said, shaking me out of my thoughts. I looked up from my sketch pad and saw the bus conductor looking at me. I looked out the window and saw that we had arrived at the school.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'll get off right now." I said, bowing at the conductor, quickly stuffing my drawing into my bag before I grabbed my gear and ran off the bus. "Thank you!" As the bus took off, I took the time to look at the school in front of me and I gasped lightly. The Sakura trees were in full bloom and the petals floated down gently as a small breeze swept through the school. The brick walls surrounded the entrance of the school and in the front held the main office and a huge golden clock tower, that suddenly chimed to notified it's students that school would be starting soon.

This place was too good to be true! I checked the bronze plaque just outside of the gates and sure enough it read "Seishun Academy." The school was much bigger than the pictures I saw online. Although I couldn't see much with the two buildings blocking most of my sight...

_This is it,_ I thought, walking through the gates with confidence, _This is where it starts._ As I passed various students, the clock tower chimed once again and many children started running towards their class. _I better make my way to the office. I need to get my schedule and perhaps….they can give me a guide so I won't lose my way around this school. _I sheepishly thought as I pushed the doors of the main office open, the air-conditioned air blowing softly at my face. Inside the office building, teachers and staff members were rushing about, answering telephones that rang nonstop, passing stacks of papers to each other, and answering questions of concerned parents. I made my way through the busy crowd to the main receptionist. She was answering another parent's question when she finally noticed me.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?" she asked with a questioning look.

"Um I'm new here. My grandparents came here a couple of days to register me. I'm Ryu Honda." I answered her hoping it would clear up some confusion. She looked at me suspiciously before she snapped he fingers.

"Oh now I remember! Your grandparents told us that you were homeschooled and they wanted to give you a chance to go to a real school before you entered high school! I'll be right back to get your schedule. Oh and Hana-san, can you call up a third year to the office to show Mr. Honda around the school? I'm sure he'll need help navigating his way around this school." The receptionist said as she left the counter to search for my schedule.

As I waited for her to bring me back my schedule, I sat down on a nearby chair and played with the sleeves of my boy's black uniform feeling a bit guilty that I was tricking a whole school about my gender before I shook that idea way.

"It's fine Mi-Ryu." I whispered to myself as I saw Hana-san put down the phone and went back to answering questions for another parent. "Just stay calm and no one will find out."

"Mr. Honda? I have your schedule ready." The receptionist from earlier called out. I walked back to the desk and she laid the piece of paper in front of me. "Well since you're entering as a third year, you're schedule is a bit different than the others. Your home room is 2-A and you have Japanese language with English literature, Algebra two, biology, Music, Drawing, Japanese History, and your grandparents had the liberty of telling us that you planned to join the Tennis Club so you won't need physical education and unlike the first years, and you won't be taking health as well." She said as she handed me more papers. "These are the class supply lists so I recommend you get theses as soon as possible. I know there's something I'm missing…Oh, Hana-san where is that student that I asked you to send up?" She asked her co-worker as she remembered.

"He's right here. Fuji-san come over here." Hana-san said as she motioned over a teenage boy that had entered the building moments ago, towards us.

"Yes, Mika-san?" the Fuji boy said as he came towards us. He stood about five feet five inches, he had medium length light brown hair and strangely his eyes were closed, as if he was eye smiling at us. I blushed at his physical features and he chuckled when he saw my flushed face.

"Ah, sorry! I didn't—I'm not like that—it's," I sighed dejectedly, "I'm just going to keep my mouth shut before I make a fool of myself." Fuji merely smiled at me.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have laughed, but it's not the first time I got a look like that from a boy."

"Oh," I said awkwardly before I turned my attention elsewhere.

_Well, he doesn't know that I'm a girl so I guess it's not that awkward_.

"Excuse," the receptionist said, getting both of our attention. "I hope you don't mind Fuji-san, but could you show Honda-san around the school and show him the ropes?"

"Not at all ma'am." Fuji said.

"Great, now run along and get to your classes." She said as she ushered both of us out of the building. "And have a wonderful first day here Honda-san."

"H-hai!" I said as Fuji opened the door and the both of us exited the main office. "Um let me introduce myself. I'm Ryu Honda, a homeschooled student that transferred here, pleased to meet you um Fuji…sempai?" I asked wondering if I should add the sempai after his name.

"Fuji-san is fine. You're not underclassmen so you don't have to call me Sempai." He said smiling lightly at me.

"Ah ok Fuji-san, I hope I'm not a burden to you." I said shyly as we walked towards the building 2-A.

"Not at all. Are you planning to join the tennis club?" He said as he motioned to my racket case.

"Yes, and I'm actually hoping to make the regular team." I chuckled sheepishly as I grabbed the strap of my racket case out of nervousness.

"I see, well I wish you luck on the tournament matches."

"Tournament matches?" I asked confused. Fuji nodded as we entered a three story building after walking for about a couple of minutes.

"Yes, we have tournament matches to decide who the regulars will be. Only eight make the regulars." He said as we began climb up a set of stairs. I took this time to look around the building and I was amazed to see how many classrooms there were on a floor. I could hear chatter coming from the rooms making me more nervous, my courage leaving me as I realized how much I did not know about private schools.

_There's so many people in these classrooms. I hope I can adjust well to this new place, it would be weird if I couldn't interact with anyone besides Fuji-san._

"Honda-san?" Fuji asked me asked I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Ah sorry! I didn't mean to space out! It's just this is a bit overwhelming and I'm kind of nervous." I said as I apologized to the smiling boy.

"It's fine. Going to a public school after being homeschooled is a big change. Being nervous is normal."

"I know it's just…I'm scared that I might be the one out-casted you know? I don't really have many friends besides my new friend that I befriended at the tennis park a couple of months ago. My cousin and his friends act more like a family to me and I'm not very sociable. What if I make a horrible impression of myself and everyone thinks that weird and I'll end up as the loner and—"

"Calm down Honda-san." Fuji chuckled as he placed a hand on my shoulder as it began to shake. "You'll make plenty of friends. You can even consider me your first friend here at Seigaku." I suddenly stopped, staring at him with surprise written all over my face.

"R-really? You'll be my friend?" I asked. Fuji just nodded.

"Hai."

"T-thank you!" I smiled brightly at him before I nervously looked at him. "Then can I call you by your first name?"

"Sure. My name is Shusuke Fuji." He said as he held out his hand. I took his hand and shook it, smiling at him.

"Then you can call me by my first name as well. I'm glad to have made a friend like you Shusuke-kun."

"Same here Ryu-kun. We better get to class though. We wouldn't want to miss our first period."

"Hai!" I said as continued to walk up the stairs. "Hey Shusuke-kun? Are you joining the tennis club as well?" Shusuke just chuckled.

"I am already on the tennis club. I'm a regular."

"Ehhh!" I shouted surprised. "You're a regular? Wow! You must be amazing at tennis then! I'll look forward playing with you then." I smiled at him as we reached a classroom. Standing outside of the classroom, I could hear a teacher lecturing the students inside. Before I could ask Shusuke for a couple of minutes to compose myself, he placed his hand on the door handle, ready to open the classroom.

"Likewise." Shusuke said as he pulled open the door. Immediately, all eyes went to us as we stepped into the classroom. A tall lean female teacher, with her blonde hair tied into a pony-tail, looked up from her book she was reading aloud and looked at me.

"Are are you the new student, Ryu Honda?" She asked.

"H-hai." I nervously said as I bowed to her.

"Well then, come to the front and introduce yourself. Fuji-san sit down." She said as she went to her desk as sat down on her chair. I looked nervously at Shusuke who went to sit down next to a red head with a bandage on his right cheek who grinned happily at him.

"W-well." I started, grabbing the strap of my racket case even tighter as all eyes were set on me. "My name is Ryu Honda, I'm fifteen years old, and my hobbies include playing tennis, drawing, listening to music, watching anime and traveling. My favorite subjects include history and art. I don't like English and science. My dream...well." I paused for a moment considering if I should tell them the truth and decided to give them a modified version. "To have my father be proud of me I guess. And…to make friends." I said smiling sheepishly at them, ending my introduction.

"Well I have good news and bad news." The blonde teacher said, smiling at me as she got up.

"Wait what?" I asked confused and momentary scared. The teacher smirked at me.

"You can call me Mayu-sensei and the bad news, I teach English, your least favorite subject." All the students chuckled at her joke and I blushed bright red. "But the good news, I'm sure you'll make lots of friends here." She said smiling as she patted my shoulder. "You can sit behind Kikumaru-san. Kikumaru-san, raise your hand if you will." The red haired boy that sat next to Shusuke raised his arm high into the hair and gave me a foxy grin.

"You can call me Eiji-kun if you want, Ryu-kun." Eiji said as I took a seat behind him.

"Um hai, Kik—Eiji-kun." I mumbled nervously as I placed my racket case on the floor and proceeded to take out my school supplies. A few papers flew from my binder and as I tried to get them back, Eiji quickly snatched them before they fell to the floor.

"Oh, what's this?" he asked as he took a look at the papers.

"Nothing!" I said, blushing bright red as I realized that the papers were my sketches that I worked on in the bus that morning. I must have placed them in my binder instead of my sketch book. "There's nothing to see!"

"Wow, Ryu-kun you're really good at drawing! It looks so realistic nya~" he smiled as he suddenly showed them to Shusuke. "Look Fuji-kun! Aren't they really good?" Shusuke looked over my drawings that I desperately tried to take back from the energetic red head and Shusuke raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Wow, they're really good. You have talent Ryu-kun." He said as he took the papers from Eiji and gave them back to me, which I quickly placed back in my sketch folder.

"Ah, thank you, but I still have ways to go." I muttered, as I blushed bright red at his comment.

"Oi, less chit-chat and more reading brats! Turn to page twenty-three in your books, Honda-san share with Kikumaru-san for now, and we'll begin reading the passage in English. Honda-san read the first paragraph." She said as she picked up the book from earlier and began walking around the classroom.

"H-hai." I stuttered as Eiji gave me the book to read from. "About half way between West Egg and New York…"

The first half of the day went relatively smooth considering that this was the first time I have ever been in a private school. We had English for about an hour before another professor came in and began teaching Biology, which I had difficulty understanding, but with the help of Eiji and Shusuke I managed to understand what to do for the first half of the homework. Next came Japanese History and this time I was the one helping Eiji and Shusuke understand the concepts we needed to understand for the advance placement test at the end of the school year. Lunch break came and Eiji and Shusuke, mostly Eiji, dragged me to the roof where he said I would meet up with their friends Oishi and Tezuka. I hardly had any time to grab my lunch as Eiji pulled me out of the classroom once the bell for lunch rang.

"Oishi-kun! Oishi-kun, I want you to meet my new friend! His name is Ryu, nya~. He just transferred to mine and Fuji's class. Isn't that great?" Eiji shouted to two boys sitting down waiting to eat their lunch. Shusuke quietly followed behind us and chuckled as Eiji enthusiastically introduced me to his friends. The one with black short hair, that had two strands of hair almost reaching his eyebrows , looked at me with a smile.

"Ah, I see." He then got up and bowed politely to me. My name is Suichiruo Oishi. It's a pleasure to meet you Ryu-kun. Oh and this is Kunitmitsu Tezuka." The boy named Kunitmitsu…Tezuka—that sounds a bit easier to pronounce—merely nodded at me. He had shorter brown hair than Shusuke-kun had, but it was longer than the average boy had it. His brown hair, while messy, looked very sophisticated on him, or perhaps it was the glass that he wore, making him look older than what he really was. Overall he had an air of…how should I say it…leadership. Like how whenever people go up to Seiichi-chan, they always say that he gives off an air of importance and it's hard not to follow him. Tezuka had that same atmosphere around him and it sort of…

"Nya~ Ryu-kun are you going to say hi?" Eiji say pushing me out of my thoughts as he nudged me.

"Eiji—"Oishi said in a warning tone to the red haired boys before I shook head.

"It's alright, my name it Ryu Honda. It's a pleasure to meet you all. I hope we can become good friends." I said, muttering the last part nervously.

"You have nothing to worry about." Oishi said, smiling at me. "Any friend of Eiji and Fuji is a friend of ours. I hope Eiji hasn't been bothering you too much." Eiji just pouted.

"Ryu-chan doesn't mind. Right Ryu-chan?" He asked as he got close to my face, smiling at me.

_R-ryu-chan? _I thought confusingly, _When did he decide to call me Ryu-chan? He was calling my Ryu-kun a few minutes ago._

"N-no, Eiji-kun hasn't been a bother at all." I smiled as I weakly pushed Eiji away from my face, only for him to latch onto my shoulder. "He's been rather kind to me, as well as Shusuke-kun."

"See! I didn't bother Ryu-chan!" Eiji smiled brightly as he hugged me with one arm before his stomach gave a loud growl. "Nya, can we eat lunch? I'm kind of hungry." Oishi, and Shusuke laughed lightly and Tezuka merely gave Eiji a small smirk that nearly went unnoticeable had it not been for my slightly sharp eyes.

"So which school did you transfer from?" Oishi asked as he sat back down next to Tezuka, Eiji and Shusuke followed his example and I quickly joined them on the floor sitting right between Eiji and Shusuke.

"Ah, Um I didn't go to any school before. For the past several years, I have been homeschooled by my father and last year, he left me in the care of my grandparents and they decided that before going to high school, I should have some sort of public education and here I am." I said as I opened my homemade lunch and began eating the sushi that I had prepared the night before.

"You also want to join the tennis club right? That's why you had a racket case with you right?" Eiji smiled as he took a piece of fish and swallowed it whole.

"H-hai." I said after I had finished swallowing my sushi. "Are any of you in the tennis club?" They all nodded and I nearly dropped my next piece of sushi in surprise. Who would have thought that my new possible friends were already in the tennis club? "Are all of you regulars like Shusuke-kun is?"

"Hai. I'm the vice captain for the team—"

"And he's also my doubles partner, nya!" Eiji interrupted Oishi as he gave me a foxy smile.

"And I'm the captain of the Tennis Club." Tezuka said as he calmly ate a chunk of rice with meat from his lunch.

"What position do you play?" Shusuke asked as he finished taking a sip of water.

"Well, I don't really mind. I can play doubles or singles fairly well. I'm just hoping to become a regular."

"Why is that?" Oishi asked.

"Well…I want to make my father proud of me and tennis is the only thing I'm really good at besides drawing so I figured I should try to become a professional tennis player. I heard that Seigaku has a really good tennis club, so I thought if I could make the regular team I would have more chances of going up against stronger people thus giving me more experience as a player and I can become a better tennis player as the year goes on." I said giving them a brief and slightly altered truth.

"Why isn't he proud of you? You seem to be a good kid." Shusuke said.

"It's…something I don't wish to talk about yet." I muttered as I looked down at my lunch. Everyone was silent for a moment before Eiji latched on to my shoulder looking over it to see my lunch.

"Nya, can I have some of your Sushi? It looks good."

"Eiji!" Oishi said startled, "That's—"

"Perfectly fine." I said interrupting Oishi, "I have extra, you can have them." I was rather thankful that Eiji changed the subject; I didn't really want to think about the past.

"Yata! Thank you Ryu-chan!" Eiji said as he took two sushis from my lunch box and plopped them into his mouth. "Wow, they're really good! Did your grandparents make them?" he asked.

"Ah no, I made them myself." I sheepishly said, rubbing the back of my head with my left hand.

"Sugo! If you were a girl, you would make a very good wife!" At his random comment, I blushed really badly.

"U-um, I-I uh…thank you?" I said after trying to come up with a reasonable sentence and failing miserably.

"You're welcome, nya~" Eiji said before he let go of my shoulder and latched on to Oishi and began talking rather quickly to him.

_Is…Is he always like that? I never seen a person so carefree…well besides—_

"Eiji can be a little overwhelming at times, but he means well. The way he's talking so casualty towards you means he already considers you a friend." Shusuke said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Really?" I asked as I turned to face him.

"I've known Eiji for a while now and he usually isn't like this towards many people. Right Tezuka?"

"Hai." He said, before he went back to eating. After a couple of more mini conversations, the bell rang indicating that lunch had ended and the three of us, Shusuke, Eiji, and I, went back to our homeroom to finish up our school day. We had Algebra next, followed by drawing and finally we had music appreciation.

"And by tomorrow, I want these worksheets done." The professor said as he finished up his lesson as he passed out the worksheet. "They shouldn't take long and I expect complete sentences—"

**RIIIIINNNNNGGGGG** The bell rang loudly and the whole class quickly went to put away the worksheets into their backpacks and waited for the teacher to dismiss us.

"And no sloppy handwriting! Dismiss." He sighed and the moment he said those words, half the class was already out the door.

"Come one Ryu-chan! Practice is next come on nya~!" Eiji said as he pulled me out of the classroom with Shusuke following behind us. After walking out of the classroom building, the three of us continued to walk through the school towards the tennis court and Eiji made it his goal to get me to talk more to him. By the end of the walk, I was talking happily away with Eiji and Shusuke as if I had been friends with them for a couple of months. We continued to walk until we reached a set of bungalows with a large tennis court next to them. I could see kids walking out the bungalow, dressed for playing tennis and chatting rather happily. I stopped cold as I realized my identity as a girl was on the line. If I had to change with a bunch of guys, it would surely give away my gender! Not to mention it would be rather embarrassing to see guys change. The only guy I have seen shirtless was my cousin and even then, that was awkward!

"What's wrong Ryu-kun?" Shusuke asked as he noticed I had stopped walking.

"Um…do all guys change in that bungalow?" I asked nervously.

"Well, most do but we have a separate bungalow to change into. Why?" Eiji asked as he came up behind me.

"W-w-well, I'm not used to changing with other guys and I rather change where I have my privacy." I muttered as a dark red blush appeared on my face.

"Neh? Are you scared of changing with other guys?" Eiji asked before he chuckled. "There's nothing to be worried about!" he said as he pushed me towards the bungalow despite me trying to stop him.

"Please! I'm really self conscious and changing with others is not going to help!" I said rather panicky as I got closer to the bungalow and I could hear other boys chatting away.

"Eiji." Shusuke said as he stopped Eiji from pushing me further into the crowed bungalow. "He's not used to a private school yet. Don't force him to do something that he doesn't like." And then Shusuke lead me to another set of bungalows that was pretty vacant. "Here, you can change here with no worries of other's seeing you." I sighed in relief.

"Thank you Shusuke-kun. It means a lot to me." Shusuke merely gave me an eye smile as he went to another section of the bungalow and began changing along with Eiji. "Don't worry, we won't peek at you." Shusuke chuckled as I heard a whine coming from Eiji and I gave a small laugh as I placed my tennis bag on the floor.

Not taking any chances still, I quickly opened up my black boy's uniform and discarded it on the floor as I pulled off my white shirt underneath, revealing a bonded chest. Opening my tennis bag, I took out a white thin tank-top and pulled it over my head and smoothed out the wrinkles once it covered my chest. Then I took out a light blue, with black sleeves, collared t-shirt and pulled that over my head. While it wasn't possible to get my shirt soaked so much that the bandages would come loose, I rather stay safe than sorry and put another layer of cloth on. Taking my shoes off, my pants came off next. With relative ease, I put on my white shorts—with a black line going down the side—that went a little higher than my knees, but were longer than a girl's short. Next came my white and black tennis shoe that Seiichi bought for me a couple of days before I came here since my old pair was about to rip.

"Neh, Ryu-chan are you done yet?" I heard Eiji ask as he came closer to my little secluded section. Quickly I grabbed an arm warmer from my tennis bag and pulled it over my scared left arm.

I wasn't kidding when I said I was self conscious. Apparently at a very young age, I was in an accident that scarred my left arm pretty badly. I don't remember much, but Dad said that was normal since I also hit my head when I got my scar, but that's all he'll tell me. I tried asking my grandparents, but they also don't remember how I got the scar and no one else knew about the accident. Anyways, the doctors, at first, said that the scar would eventually go away on its own, but the accident had scarred not only my arm, but the tissue inside my arm. So as I grew older, my skin stretched out and the scar became larger and larger. It grew large enough that if I ever wore a t-shirt, I would be wearing an arm warmer to cover my scar that everyone always stared at if I left it out for everyone to see. Even in hot weather, I would still wear the arm warmer with a tank top; the stares are just too uncomfortable.

"H-hai! I'm done." I said as I stuffed my clothes into my tennis bag and quickly went to join Shusuke and Eiji.

"Took you long enough nya~" Eiji smiled as he proudly showed off his Seigaku regular tennis outfit along with Shusuke. "Wait, why do you have that on your left arm?" Eiji asked as he pointed to my dark blue arm warmer. I chuckled sheepishly.

"Well, um…when I said I was self conscious it meant that I didn't want people to see my um…scar that I have on my arm. People look at me weirdly and I rather not have to deal with that all the time so I just like to change in private and wear this arm warmer whenever I use a t-shirt." I explained as we headed out to the courts that were slowly becoming busy with other tennis members.

"Eh! Really! I'm sorry Ryu-chan! I didn't know!" Eiji said apologetically. I waved him off.

"It's fine really. You didn't know that's all. It was just a small misunderstanding."

"But I should still make it up to you." Eiji pouted as we reached the courts. "Ah! I know, why don't you practice with us nya~! Usually new members don't play today, but I don't think Buchou will mind! Come on! You can practice with me Fuji, and Oishi! Come on nya~!" He cheerfully said as he pulled me into the courts—just as I got my racket out of my tennis bag—earning me a lot of stares from the regulars…most of them…annoyance.

"B-but—"

"Oishi-kun! Oishi-kun! Let's practice together!" Eiji called out to the surprised Oishi who was taking off his regular jacket.

"Eiji-kun, Fuji-kun, and Ryu-san?" He greeted us as we arrived at the courts. "Eiji-kun you know he can't play—"

"But Oishi-kun~" Eiji whined as he gave me a hug. "Please! I want to make it up to Ryu-chan for being a bit mean to him! Please!"

"N-ne it's fine Eiji-kun, you don't have to do this." I said trying to struggle out of his grip. Oishi merely sighed before he turned his attention to Shusuke.

"Do you mind if Ryu-san practices with us then?" Shusuke gave him a small smile

"Saa…why not. We can see if he has talent then." Mentally I was rejoicing; this could be my chance to show that I deserved to be on the team!

"A-are you sure?" I asked, not wanting to sound too happy, "I don't want to get you into trouble…"

"Nya! Its fine! And if Buchou does get mad, I'll take the blame!" Eiji smiled happily. "Let's have a small doubles match! Me and Oishi against Fuji and Ryu-chan!" I gave a small smile to Shusuke who happily returned it.

"I guess I'll be playing with you sooner than I thought. I hope you don't mind though."

"Not at all Ryu-kun."

"Yata!" Eiji exclaimed jumping high into the air, surprising me with his agility. "Yosh! Let's play! Rough or smooth!" Eiji smiled as he placed his racket, head first on the floor, ready to spin.

"Smooth." Shusuke and I said at the same time. We both chuckled as Eiji spun the racket before gravity took hold on the racket and caused it to fall on the rough side. "Nya~ It's rough! Let's serve first Oishi!" Eiji bounced to his partner, ready to play. Oishi merely chuckled.

"Hahahaha ok. Which side do you want?" He asked us.

"You can choose this time Ryu-kun." Shusuke said.

"Um…I suppose we can stay on this side." I said, shuffling my feet. "That's if you want to."

"I don't mind. Come on, let's play." Shusuke said as he moved to the baseline.

"Hai!" We all said as we went into our position. Both Eiji and I were at the net and Oishi was at the baseline, ready to serve.

"Here it comes." He smirked as he threw the ball into the air. I watched the ball as it slowly came back down to earth and I prepared myself. Oishi gave out a loud grunt as he hit the ball with his racket and the tennis ball, soared over the net faster than a normal person's serve, and right into the corner of the serving box. I looked back to see Shusuke rush towards the ball and hit the ball with a forehand hit. Eiji was prepared and hit the ball back with a backhand while laughing. Quickly, I side stepped and volleyed the ball on the opposite side of a surprised Eiji before he smirked.

"Got ya~" He smiled as he quickly switched sided for me to see Oishi smirking as he managed to hit the ball towards the center of the court.

"Shusuke!" I shouted as I tried to reach the ball and failed.

"Don't worry," he said as he gracefully backhanded the ball back to the pair. "I got it."

"Nya~" Eiji smiled as he acrobatically jumped for the ball, nearly making it out of my reach. "You're not bad at all."

"Thanks," I smiled as I hit the ball crosscourt, Oishi barely managing to save the ball. "I practiced a lot."

"But we're going to win this practice match." Eiji smirked as shouted "**Kikumaru Beam!**" The ball quickly shot past Shusuke, who had switched places with me, and clearly out of a normal person's reach. Not wanting to have this match end so quickly, I raced towards the ball with a burst of speed and placed myself into a fighting stance, holding my left hand straight up and I pulled my right arm back, ready to hit the ball.

"Not yet! **Jiguzagu!**" I shouted as I slammed my racket against the ball, putting a strong spin on the ball at the last second, aiming straight to the right corner, where Oishi rushed to get the ball. I smirked as the yellow ball bounced on the floor before it shot out to the left, right behind Eiji making a partial zigzag.

"N-nani!" Oishi said surprised as he saw the ball spin the opposite direction, giving us the first point.

"It's one of my own moves." I smiled as I saw their reaction, along with the other members of the tennis club. "My specialty comes from crosscourt as you have seen. Not only do I hit the ball to the corners of the courts, but I also put a very strong spin on it, so when it lands, it doesn't go straight. Instead it goes towards the opposite direction of what it originally intended, making the player unable to get it, because they can't reach to it in time." I smiled sheepishly.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Eiji smiled as he jumped up and down. "That move alone isn't going to help you win this game right Oishi-kun?" Eiji said as he looked at his partner.

"Right." Oishi said as he smiled at me. "We won't be that easy to beat."

"Let's do this Shusuke-kun!" I smiled determinedly as I looked at Shusuke who nodded back.

"Right."

"Love-fifteen, Oishi serve."

Our game went on for a while, longer than I had originally intended. None of us were willing to back down and our rallies went on for at least five minutes at the max. Our small match had the whole tennis team watching in awe as they saw our skills.

"For a newbie, he's good." One would say when we were switching sides.

"To play with the Golden pair and not be bageled, it's a miracle."

"But he has Fuji-sempai on his team, that's why they're not loosing entirely."

"But he won just as many points as Fuji-sempai has, he's just as good as the regulars," Whispered many of the team members who stopped their games just to watch ours. I even saw a few more regulars looking at us with interest. A boy with spiky black hair and glasses wrote furiously in his notebook, while another; a thug looking one, looked at me with piercing eye that resembled a snake.

"Match point! Yata~ We can do this Oishi-kun!" Eiji shouted as he jumped in place at the net.

"Ryu-kun, let's play our best." Shusuke smiled at me as he bounced the ball in place before he served with a grunt.

"Right!" I said as I balanced on my legs, ready to move at a moment's notice. Eiji quickly volleyed the ball, but I had anticipated his move and volleyed it back to their side. The rally continued on for another couple of minutes before Oishi dragged his racket on the floor as a ball came towards him.

"It's Oishi-sempai's **Moon Volley!**" Someone shouted as Oishi lobbed the ball high into the air, heading straight for the baseline.

_Wow, I never seen a lob that high before,_ I thought as I rushed to reach the lob, _It shouldn't be that hard to get, just a little more…_ Just as I reached for the ball, a familiar figure stood behind the wired gates, staring at me intently.

"T-tezuka-san? I-I mean buchou?" I said surprised as I let the lob bounce, hitting the line, giving Oishi and Eiji the match point and game. Fuji and I had lost to them, Four-six.

"Ne Ryu-chan what's—buchou?" Eiji cried out in surprise as he came towards me and also saw Tezuka standing outside the courts.

"Care to explain why a new member is playing on the courts when it's only supposed to be second and third years?" Tezuka asked the both of us, while staring intently at us. Eiji and I both gulped.

_S-scary! Seiichi-chan was never this scary…but then again he never got really mad at me._

"S-s-sorry!" I quickly apologized. "I um didn't mean to I just—"

"I invited him to play Buchuo!" Eiji quickly interrupted pushing me back, "It's not Ryu-chan's fault! Don't blame him!" Tezuka looked at us with calculating eyes before he looked at me, his glasses providing a glare so I couldn't see his eyes.

_Oh damn! I can't see his eyes, but that might be a good thing right? So I can't see if he's glaring…maybe he's…oh who am I kidding! What if he kicks me off the tennis club, what if he won't let me join the team! Oh my god, what was I thinking when I let Eiji drag me onto the courts when I knew I wasn't able to! Oh god my dream is over before it even be—_

"Be ready for the upcoming tournament matches Honda-san" Tezuka finally said as he cut through my frantic thoughts.

"I'm so sorry I'll—wait…what?" I asked surprised.

"You'll be playing in the regulars ranking tournament matches to see if you'll make the regular team." Tezuka calmly said as he turned away from the both of us. "You do still want to play right?" Speechless I could only nod before I muttered a small 'yes' as I realized he couldn't see me. "Good, now please exit off the courts. You're not allowed to play on them today."

"H-hai! Thank you!" I said as I saw Tezuka retreat from the courts. I turned around and saw Eiji, Oishi, and Shusuke looking at me with surprise. "W-well, I guess I should get going then. It was nice playing a match with you Oishi-kun, Eiji-kun, and Shusuke-kun." I waved sheepishly at them as I walked off the courts, making sure not to disturb the other matches. "I guess I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Hai, bye Ryu-kun. It was a nice match we played." Shusuke said as he waved at me.

"Make sure to get plenty of rest." Oishi said as well.

"Yata! Maybe you'll make the team Ryu-chan!" Eiji shouted as he waved enthusiastically.

"Twenty laps, for disobeying the rule Eiji." Tezuka said as he passed me at the entrance.

"N-nani!" Eiji shouted as I walked away, chuckling.

"Maybe I'll make the tennis team after all." Said to myself as I picked up my racket case from the bench outside and headed to the bungalows to change. However, a small audience on another set of tennis courts intrigued my interest. "What's going on over there?"

"Ya! Ryoma-sama is so cool!" I heard a girl shrill as I came near the small group that were watching two players inside the abandoned courts. As I came closer I finally saw the group more clearly. The group consisted of four small first years, a girl with long pigtails that were tied into braids, another girl with pigtails that reached her shoulder, and inside the courts were two boys, one with a bowl cut hair and the other nearly like Oishi's. Behind the girls, were two adults; a young woman about the age twenty or so, with a camera around her right shoulder and standing next to her was a man in his thirties with a brief case and a camera as well. I looked inside the courts as saw a rather tall boy with spiky black hair, a yellow shirt and blue pants standing at the baseline waiting for the other boy—much smaller than the spiky hair boy—with a white hat, black shorts, and a red and white collared t-shirt to serve.

"Wait. That was a fault, so he has to serve again." The woman explained to the pigtailed girl. "If he faults again, it's a point for Momoshiro-kun."

"Really? Ryoma-sama!" the girl wept as she looked back at the courts. Deciding to stay back and watch, I stood about ten feet away from the courts and watched the game unfold.

"I don't want slice serves. Don't hold out on me." The taller boy said as he pointed his racket at the other boy.

"No," Came the immediate response from the kid, surprising the older boy.

"Arrogant brat." He muttered, nearly too soft for my ears to hear, before he stood ready at the baseline. The collared t-shirt boy, began bouncing the ball with his left hand, before he grabbed the ball and threw it into the air, putting a familiar spin on it.

"So he knows **Twist Serve** too huh. I wonder how good it is." I muttered, smiling softly as I saw the kid jump into the air and slammed on the ball hard. I saw the older boy take a step back and prepared to hit the ball, but I knew he wouldn't…at least not on the first try. The ball slammed down near the serve line spinning rather quickly, before I shot towards the older boy's face. I saw the look of surprise on his face as he saw the ball fly towards his face, but instead of the ball hitting his face—or at least near his face—the ball slammed into the other boy's racket grip and caused him to lose his grip. Everyone stared at the serve with complete shock.

"Um excuse me," the pigtailed girl asked the older man, "But what is a **Twist Serve**?" Deciding that I had stayed hidden for long enough I made myself known to the group.

"It's a serve that has a counter spin, different than a normal serve which is a slice serve that has a left spin, and bounces towards the player with a top spin." I said as I moved towards them.

"Um…who are you?" the girl with the braids asked as they all looked towards me.

"My apologies." I chuckled sheepishly. "I'm Ryu Honda, a third year transfer student who knows a thing or two about tennis um…what are your names?" I asked feeling more embarrassed.

"Ah, my name is Sakuno Ryuzaki" The girl with the braids said, bowing a bit.

"Tomoka Osakada!" The other girl said with confidence, also following Sakuno's example.

"Kachiro Kato." The small boy with the bowl cut hair said

"Katsui Mizuno" Kachiro's buddy said, who resemblance to Oishi was uncanny. "And sitting on the umpire seat is Satoishi Horio." He said pointing to the boy with a green and orange shirt and brown hair, sitting happily at the high seat.

"Mamoru Inoue." The older gentleman said, "I'm a journalist for a tennis magazine."

"Saori Shiba" the woman said, smiling at me, "I too, work for the tennis magazine."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." I said smiling at them.

"Wait, you said earlier that a **Twist Serve** has a top spin on it right?" Shiba asked. "Doesn't that mean that the ball bounces towards the face?" she asked Inoue this time.

"Yes, you can't return it that easily." He said.

"Once you get how the ball spins though, it gets easier to hit back. It's just the shock that a ball is coming towards you that surprises most people and makes them unable to hit the ball back the first time." I explain.

"So do you know how to hit back a **Twist Serve**?" Inoue asked, and I smiled softly at him before turning my attention towards the two on the courts.

"Perhaps." And I kept it at that.

"But still, I can't believe a middle schooler can use that serve, it's unbelievable." Inoue muttered looking at the boy who had preformed the **Twist Serve**.

"Amazing!" Tomoka squealed, "Ryoma-sama is getting cooler by the minute!" The boy in the yellow shirt, went to pick up his racket that was thrown out of his hand by the ball before he stood up and gave—if my indications are correct—Ryoma a smiled.

"Scary, scary. You caught me off guard." He said rather care freely.

"Are you ok? You're sweating" Ryoma asked the surprised boy. The boy merely glared at Ryoma before muttering 'Bastard' as he went to his position at the baseline, smirking at Ryoma.

"Fifteen-love!" Horio said, as Ryoma began bouncing the ball again. A few seconds later, Ryoma threw the ball up in the air again, putting a spin on it as it flew towards the other side of the net.

"It's the **Twist Serve** again." I muttered to myself as I saw the older boy rush towards the ball, probably hoping to get the ball as it rises and not when it would hit his racket.

"Good! Here I go!" he shouted as he pulled his right arm back and prepared himself to hit the ball. As the ball came closer, the boy swung his racket forward and managed to hit the ball but he didn't hit it at the right angle and it resulted in the ball hitting the net. The boy smiled as he placed his hands on his head. "Looks like I can't return it with good timing alone. Interesting."

"Even Takeshi Momoshiro, a Seigaku regular, is losing in a power battle." Inoue said shocked.

"He's a regular?" I asked a bit surprised. "Then why isn't he practicing with the others?" I muttered mostly to myself.

"Thirty-love! Echizen leads!" Horio cried out the score as Ryoma prepared to hit another serve.

_Echizen…I wonder…if that's the case then I really shouldn't be surprised of his skills. It would make perfect sense. And Dad's out of the country again, those two can never be in the same country at the same time can they._ I mentally chuckled before I focused back at the game.

It was once again the **Twist serve**. Momoshiro once again ran towards the net and managed to hit the ball, with a better angle this time and the ball bounced off the cord of the net and made it to the other side. Ryoma and the others were shocked that Momoshiro managed to hit the unbeatable serve.

"Oh? Lucky, I was lucky!" Momoshiro smiled as he gave Ryoma a peace sign.

"He returned the serve!" Kato said shocked and the rest of the group gasped in awe.

"thirty-fifteen." Horio said, surprise evident in his voice. Ryoma once again used the **Twist Serve** and this time Momoshiro returned it and the two players began to rally it out before Ryoma tapped the ball, causing it to barely make it over the net. Momoshiro saw the hit and tried to run towards it, but he suddenly fell and the point went to Ryoma.

"So Ryoma also knows **Drop Volley **as well then. Interesting." I muttered as Momoshiro voiced what I had just said aloud. "I wonder what else he knows."

"Forty-fifteen."

"Ryoma-sama, do your best!" Tomoka shrilled, nearly blasting my eardrums. Inoue took out his camera and began taking shots of Ryoma before he said in surprise,

"Those eyes…that boy…Ryoma Echizen…is Nanjirou Echizen's…"

"Son. Yeah, I believe he is." I whispered, smiling at the boy.

"If he gets this in, it's Ryoma-kun' win!" Kato said excitedly.

"Mada Mada Dane." Ryoma said smirking at Momoshiro as the Sakura trees rattled softly against the slight breeze, sending down Sakura petals on the court before he switched his hands. His racket now was in his left instead of right.

_So he's a lefty…just like—_

"Time out," Momoshiro said just as Ryoma was about to serve. "I quit. It's over" He said, surprising all of us. "I'll let you go now." Ryoma stared at Momoshiro for a moment before he walked off.

"Doesn't matter to me."

"Nice serve you have there kid." I said catching his attention as he went to get his racket case.

"So?" he asked as he went to put his racket away in his large black tennis bag.

"If you twist your wrist a little more the right, stand just a few more centimeters parallel to the base line, and if you work out your arm a bit, you could have a faster and stronger **Twist Serve.**" I explained to him, causing him to stop what he was doing and looked at me.

"Nani."

"Just what I said. Just giving you some advice." I said shrugging. "It's your choice if you want to listen to it or not." Ryoma merely stared at me before he said,

"Show me." I raised an eyebrow in surprise before I smiled at him.

"Sure." I placed my racket bag on the floor and took out my blue and black racket that I had played earlier with Shusuke, Eiji, and Oishi just a couple of minutes ago. Momoshiro was walking towards an elderly woman with brown hair tiled into a ponytail before they turned their attention towards me.

"**Twist Serve** usually has more power to it if you have a harder swing to it, but not many people can buff up their arms and still twist the ball so it has a counter spin." I explained as I grabbed a ball and walked towards the baseline, bouncing the ball as I prepared to show Ryoma and the rest my serve. "So the best way is probably to add more spin on it. By being more parallel to the baseline and twisting your wrist a little more than usual, you can achieve a better spin." I caught the ball after bouncing it a couple of times before I threw it into the air and as it came back down, I swung my racket against the ball, twisting my wrist a little more than Ryoma's and turning my body to give the ball more spin. Faster than Ryoma's serve, the ball bounced in on the other side of the court before it shot straight towards the invisible receiver that would have been hit if they didn't have fast enough reflex.

"S-sugo!" I heard the first years and adults gasp in shock. "It was so fast…I didn't even see it go over the net until it shot straight up." Horio said.

"Play me." Ryoma said, smiling as if he met a worthy opponent. I shook my head.

"Sorry, but I really do have to go. I promised to help my grandparents at the store. Maybe another day." I said as I went to grab my racket case and quickly placed it inside without wrinkling my clothes inside. While I didn't really have to help Baa-chan with the store, I really did need to go. Seiichi-chan said he would call me after school to see how my day went and I didn't have a cell phone with me so I would have to wait by the house phone. If I wasn't there to pick up the phone, Seiichi would get worried and actually come over to see what happened to me that prevented me from answering his call. Not that I don't enjoy his company, but when he comes…the whole team comes and I rather have a peaceful evening for once. And if I told them that I was waiting for a call and that's why I had to leave…that wouldn't sound very manly which I was trying to act. Acting like a guy is tougher than I thought.

"It was nice meeting all of you. Good-bye!" I said bowing to the group as I rushed out of the courts before Ryoma could object or anyone else for that matter. I made it outside of the school gates in a matter of minutes—which was rather good since I was still getting used to the layout of the school—and sadly I missed the bus that would take me to my house and the other bus would be here in thirty minutes and by that time traffic would be at its worst. I looked at the clock tower behind me and saw that Seiichi would be calling in about fifteen minutes or so. "Screw it, I'm running." I muttered as I began the long thirty minute jog towards my house. "I really do not want my peaceful evening to be disrupted by those people.

* * *

><p>"And after all that training I did with them, I still wasn't fast enough to get the call and an hour I had a house full of Rikkaidai tennis members." I sighed as I flopped on my bed, exhausted from the visit of my cousin and his teammates. The phone next to me suddenly vibrated and I sighed, knowing who it was. "I still can't believe they got me a cell phone. It's not like I'm going to get kidnapped or anything." I flipped opened my new phone and saw another text from Akaya<p>

-One day I will defeat you and the big three and become number one!

I slowly texted him back, not yet familiar with the whole texting thing.

-You texted me that how many times already? Stop wasting my texts, you guys are supposedly paying for it so I'm sure you wouldn't want me to go over my limit.

I pressed send before I placed the phone on silence all, and placed it on my desk. After all, if I can't hear the text then I never really got it right?

"Mitsu-chan! Come down, it's dinner time." I heard Ojii-san said from the floor below.

"Coming!"

The rest of the days went rather uneventfully as I waited for the tournament matches to come. I ran across Ryoma and the trio of freshman a couple of times at the tennis courts, but because of our grade difference they couldn't talk to me when we practices.

"Oh Honda-sempai hello!" I heard Horio, Mizuno, and Kato said together in unison, out of breath, as I walked onto the courts again after changing in the bungalows that Fuji kindly let me use. I made it out quicker than them, but they told me not to wait for them, so I made my way towards the courts.

"Hello." I said smiling at them. "Hello to you to Ryoma-kun" I said to the silent freshman who seemed to have riled up the seconds years in only two days. He merely gave me a small nod. "I see you're working hard." I chuckled as I saw the three panting heavily as they tried to catch their breaths while Ryoma looked rather unaffected by the harsh routine.

"I have never worked this hard before." Kato said as he fell to the floor as his knees gave out.

"Don't worry, all of this training will make you stronger in the end. Trust me." I said as I went to place my racket case on one of the empty benches and took out my racket. Suddenly Horio looked alarmed and whispered harshly to Ryoma trying not to be heard by whoever made him scared.

"Echizen, Echizen! They're here!"

"Who?" Ryoma asked as he looked behind him (I turned around as well) and we saw three second years scowling at the "super freshman". The one in the middle (Arai if I remember his name correctly), had brown hair that was pushed back by a green-teal headband and he, along with the other second years, wore the Seigaku tennis blub jacket. He glared at Ryoma as Ryoma looked at him with indifference.

_Why is it that I always have to know the arrogant brat wherever I go? Isn't Akaya enough?_ I sighed mentally.

"Hey, don't show off because you can play a little tennis." The brown haired kid said, "The regulars will be practicing with us today and—"

"Thank you for the notice, Ari-kun," I said emphasizing on the kun, while glaring at him a little. "But I think they already knew that." Ari glared at me,

"Why you—"

"T-th-they're here!" Horio cried out as we saw the regulars come in through the courts. All of the freshman gasped in awe as they marched in together; the bandana kid I saw on my first day at school in the front, on his left was Oishi and Eiji, and on the right was the glasses boy I saw on the first day of school as well, followed by Shusuke.

"Cheers!" We all said, with the exception of Ryoma, as they reached the courts.

"We want the newcomers to feel right at home." Oishi said as he gave the freshmen a kind smile. "So pick a court and start hitting." All the freshman cheered excitedly as they could finally hit some tennis balls after conditioning to a long time.

"Ryu-chan~!" Eiji shouted as he glomped my shoulder, nearly knocking me off balanced. "Come hit with us for a while! I'm sure Fuji and Oishi-kun wouldn't mind right~" Eiji asked the two said tennis regulars.

"Not at all." Shusuke said as he chuckled happily.

"We can do it until Tezuka arrives." Oishi said as he picked up a basket off balls and headed off to another court.

"Yata! Come on Ryu-chan!" Eiji said as he pulled me away from the freshmen before I had a chance to say good bye to them.

_At least I can play with them…they're rather good rally partners to play with…wait…I don't think this is a normal rally._ I thought as I saw Oishi stand on one side of the court and the rest of the regulars were spread out, even going to the other courts.

"Fushhh…what's he doing here." The boy with a bandana said as he looked at me with cold eyes.

"He's going to hit with us Kiado nya~" Eiji said as he pulled me closer into the group making me feel very self conscious.

_I think this is a regular practice warm up…and I have a feeling I shouldn't be here just yet._

"He's not a regular—"

"So! Oishi and Fuji says he can warm up with us, until Buchuo arrives." Eiji pouted.

"But—"

"Calm down Kiado," Oishi said before Kiado could get any more aggressive. "He'll just be practicing with us for a while. Besides, Tezuka said that he would be participating in the ranking tournaments, we should have him at least prepared." Oishi explained.

"Tch." Kiado said as he turned away from me. I sighed, looks like I wasn't going to make much friends besides Oishi, Eiji, Shusuke, and possibly Tezuka.

"Alright, for this warm up, all you have to do is hit the ball back into the basket." Oishi said as he grabbed a couple of balls before he lobbed on high into the air towards Kaido.

"Tch." Kaido said as he slammed the lob back into the basket.

"Don't worry, you can do it, I'm sure." Shusuke said as Oishi lobbed another ball this time towards Eiji who effortlessly hit the ball back into the basket.

"Here it comes Ryu-kun" Oishi said as he lobbed a ball in my general direction. I quickly ran towards the ball and just as was about two feet from my head I swung my racket and the ball soared across the net and straight into the basket.

"Good Ryu-kun, but you need to swing a bit faster. Here!" Oishi said as he lobbed the ball to the right of Shusuke. Shusuke quickly ran towards the ball and just like me, he smashed the ball inside the basket.

"Fuji, you were one step late." Oishi said as he lobbed another ball. We continued to hit the ball into the basket and I could hear all the other tennis member gasp in awe. Suddenly Oishi lobbed the ball a bit too far and it went towards the still standing Ryoma. Seconds before the ball would hit Ryoma, he pulled his arm back and smashed the ball straight towards the basket, causing the ball basket to nearly fall over with the force of the smash. The rest of us stared at Ryoma, smiling as we saw the potential that he had. Ryoma turned towards Arai and placed his red racket on his shoulder smirking at him.

"It's unexpectedly simple." I heard him say before Arai grabbed Ryoma's t-shirt and growl out,

"Damn you and your arrogance! Don't get on your high horse so fast! There's no room for you annoying freshman!" I wanted to intervene but Shusuke held me back.

"But Shusuke—"

"Don't worry Ryu-kun. Tezuka won't let anything get out of hand." He said as he pointed towards Tezuka who had surprising appeared out of nowhere.

"What are you arguing about on the court?" The two arguing quickly turned their heads around and everyone quickly greeted the captain. Not even taking his eye off the two boys, Tezuka continued to talk. "Penalty for causing a disturbance. Run ten laps around the courts, both of you." He ordered and Arai quickly got upset.

"W-wait, it was…he—"

"Twenty laps." Tezuka said without hearing Arai's explanation which would probably have been a lie.

_It's like another Sanada-kun….although he's much less violent….wait….the only thing they probably have in common is that stoic expression._

"H-hai!" Arai said, not wanting to get into more trouble and Ryoma merely adjusted his hat, probably his way of saying ok.

"Everyone warm up! When they're done, junior and seniors will enter the courts!" Tezuka said in a loud and commanding voice. "Freshman, prepare for ball fetching!"

"HAI!" everyone shouted together, before they all ran into their positions and began warming up.

"Nya~ Looks like you can play with us for a while longer Ryu-chan!" Eiji said as he bounced towards Shusuke and I.

"Hai."

The rest of practice went rather well and before I knew it, the sun began to set and I saw from the corner of my eyes Ryoma entering the courts after his twenty laps.

"I wonder if he does it on purpose or not." I muttered, "Ryoma-kun doesn't seem very bothered by the fact that he has riled up the second years pretty badly."

"So you know Echizen then?" Shusuke asked as he stood at my side as we saw Arai give Ryoma a very worn out racket and smirking at him.

"I met him on the first day of school. He's pretty good, although his attitude could use a little work. If it wasn't for the fact that he has the talent to back up his words, he would be in big trouble.

"Arai is causing trouble with the freshman again." Eiji sighed gaining the attention of the other regular members as we all watched the event unfold.

"What should we do? Stop them?" the large boy with the glasses asked Eiji. No one said anything and I took their silence as 'We'll see what happens and if it gets too out of hand, we'll interfere.'

"I think Ryoma will be alright despite that he has a disadvantage against Arai." I said as I saw Ryoma go and walk towards a court ready to play against Arai.

"Hmmm….I think you're right Ryu-kun." Shusuke said as he placed his right hand on his chin as if he was thinking. "I would like to see the outcome of this match."

And thus the match of Arai and Ryoma began. Arai went onto his side of the court and he smirked arrogantly as he served the ball.

"Here I go!" he shouted as the ball flew towards Ryoma. Ryoma quickly ran towards the ball but as he hit the ball with the worn out racket it made a strange sound and didn't even make it over the net.

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" Arai smirked as he prepared himself for another serve. "You're the one with the big mouth. Now you're going to suffer 'til the end!" he shouted as he served the ball but this time, instead of hitting the net, Ryoma's hit went out of bounds and hit the wired gate behind Arai.

"No use. You can't hit it normally." The boy with the glasses said.

"You're right, some other method has to be use." I said as I kept my eye on Ryoma wondering what he would come up with.

"With that racket you really can't spin the ball." Shusuke said.

_But there are other ways you can add a spin on a ball._ I thought, _Let's see if Ryoma knows any of them._

"You have no chance in hell!" Arai yelled out as he served the ball again towards Ryoma. As the ball come over the net, Ryoma quickly ran towards the ball, but instead of standing in a normal forehand position, he twisted his body even more and when he swung his racket the ball went over surprising Arai.

"He twisted his body to add more spin on the ball." Eiji said a bit surprised.

"He's good." Shusuke said.

"That ball was slow," Ryoma said in response to the other tennis members who were mumbling away in shock.

"Shut up!" Arai screamed, "Just because you returned one ball! You brat!" He quickly served another ball out of anger and just like the last hit, Ryoma effortlessly hit the ball over the net and Arai missed the ball.

"A great calligrapher doesn't need to choose his pens…"Shusuke suddenly said, turning my attention towards him and I was surprised to see his eyes open for the first time and I saw his sky blue eyes look back at me. "Right Ryu-kun?"

_His eyes…they're a rather pretty color…guah! Stop sounding and looking like a love struck girl! Answer him back!_ I mentally shouted as I fought my blush back down.

"Yes, you're right." I quickly said as I turned my attention back towards the game just in time to see Ryoma smash the game ball at the tennis ball under Arai's feet. Arai, shocked at Ryoma's skill, fell down to his knees and probably humiliated beyond belief.

"Tch. What a fool." Kaido said as he turned around from the game. "Losing face for the juniors." He muttered out as he began walking off the courts.

"Oh Kiado," the boy with the glasses said, but Kiado kept on walking. "Washroom break."

"Well, that was an interesting game to watch." I said as Oishi came back, when he left I had no idea.

"Everyone run twenty laps." Oishi ordered.

"N-nani!" everyone cried, including myself. What did we do to deserve to run? Not that I mind running, but if I have no reason to run they why run at all?

"Buchou ordered everyone to run, even the regulars." Eiji at this point groaned.

"Why!" he whined.

"Go before Tezuka decides to make it forty. But after the laps everyone can go home." I sighed, still a bit mad at the fact that I still had to run, but I felt better that practice would end after that. I was getting hungry and Baa-chan said she would have arroz chaufa at home. One of my favorite dishes and I wanted to get it when it was hot from the stove.

"Let's get this over with." I said as I began jogging, Shusuke right behind me. "I'm ready to go home now."

* * *

><p>"Nya~ Ryu-chan are you ready for the tournament matches today!" Eiji said as he smiled happily at me as Shusuke, Eiji and I made our way towards the bungalows. Apparently we didn't have to attend classes today because we would be playing for ranking. I was thankful for that. I didn't think I could stand another hour of Biology or music appreciation.<p>

"Um, I guess I am. I just hope I'll make the team." I said nervously.

"I'm sure you will~!"

"I heard that Tezuka changed the ranking board this year." Shusuke said as he walked beside me.

"Eh? Really? Buchou did? I didn't think he would change anything." Eiji said surprised.

"Um…how usually are the regular ranking matches then," I asked as we reached the bungalows.

"There are four blocks with twelve people and from those blocks, eight regular members are chosen." Shusuke explained. "But I guess we'll have to see what changes he made this year." Shusuke said as we began changing into our sports attire, with me in the other section as usual.

"Maybe you'll play against one of us Ryu-chan!" Eiji said excitedly. "I want to see how you would play for real!"

"Well, maybe." I chuckled as I finished changing in record time and Shusuke, along with Eiji finished at the same time. "Let's go."

"Well…this is certainly a surprise." Shusuke said as we reached the courts and saw the board that determined which players would complete in the ranking tournament.

"Buchou added another box." Eiji said surprised.

"My name's in there." I said as I saw my name at the top of the box. "So…am I playing for a regulars spot?"

"Tezuka decided to add a substitute into the regular team this year." Oishi said behind us.

"Really!" Eiji cried as we all turned around and greeted the vice captain.

"So in other words…whoever wins in this block will—"

"Be a member of the regulars, but they won't play as often. Maybe substitute a player for a couple of matches, but that's it." Oishi explained.

_Well…I won't be an official regular member, but there's still a chance that I'll be able to play in the tournaments that Seigaku participates in. I will just have to use this opportunity and hope for the best!_

"Everyone in block E please come to court six." Some called out.

"You'll do fine Ryu-kun." Shusuke said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "And good luck."

"Thanks, and good luck to all of you." I said smiling at them as I went to my designated court where five other, second but mostly thirds years, were at. Surprisingly Tezuka was there too.

"Is everyone who is supposed to be here, here?" He asked and every nodded. "Good I will be explaining what the purpose of this block is. I have decided to add one more member to the regular team this year, but they'll be acting as a substitute switching with the regulars every so often." Everyone on the courts began to mutter excitedly before Tezuka continued his explanation. "However, unlike the other blocks, there will be only one winner. That's why there's only six of you in this block. There will be three rounds, if you lose the first round, then you're out. In the second round only two will play each other while the third will have a pass. Then on the final round the person with the pass and the winner of the second round will play against each other for the substitute spot. Any questions?" No one said anything. "Good, play hard and try your best. Ryu Honda and Arai Massori on court one…" and Tezuka began paring the players together before he left the court to play his own match.

"No hard feelings, but I'll be wining this round Honda-sempai." Arai smirked as he placed his racket on his shoulder.

"If you think so, but just so you know," I smirked at him as well, earning a small gasp from him. "I don't intend to lose. I will make the team."

* * *

><p>"I really wish that I could have had that pass, but I guess it can't be helped." I sighed as I took a sip from my water bottle as I made my way towards the board to tell the score keeper of my win. I saw Oishi writing away in a note book before he looked up and saw me.<p>

"Ryu-kun, how did your match go?" he asked, ready to write down the results.

"Hello Oishi-kun. I won, Six-love. How are the others doing?" I asked as I looked at the matches going on, on the others courts.

"They're doing well actually." Oishi smiled as he wrote down my score. "Even the freshman, Echizen Ryoma is doing well. He's won all of his games so far."

"Really? Huh…it shouldn't be much of a surprise though." I said as I took another gulp of water. "Who's he playing next?"

"A regular member, Kiado. I believe you met him already."

"He's the one with the bandana right?" I asked.

"Yup."

"Well, I wish him luck against Kiado." I said. "It's a shame I can't watch the match since I have another one to do today. It would have been exciting to see. Well, good luck on your next match Oishi-kun." I said as I went back to the courts.

"You too Ryu-kun."

The matches were rather easy to win, even without my **Jiguzagu** and my **Twist Serve**, and I won the second round just as I had won the first. Sadly, that was all we were going to play and it wouldn't be until tomorrow that we would finish our tournament. But at least I could watch Ryoma's match tomorrow against the large glasses boy…what was his name again? I have to ask Shusuke or Eiji tomorrow. Suddenly, I collided with another person and I nearly fell to the floor if it wasn't for an arm that shot out and grabbed my own arm.

"Ah, sorry Ryu-kun I wasn't watching where I was going." I heard Shusuke said as he helped me get steady on my feet.

"No it was my fault. I should pay more attention." I said rubbing the back of my neck with my left hand out of embarrassment. "Are you finished with your games for today?" I asked.

"Hai, and what about you? How did your matches go?" Shusuke asked as we began walking towards the bungalows to change.

"It went well. I beat my two opponents, six-0. And I have one more game tomorrow and then the matches will be done."

"I believe a congratulation is in order." Shusuke smiled warmly at me.

"Thank you. And I think I don't need to ask how your matches went huh." I smiled at him.

"I suppose you don't." Shusuke chuckled. "Say, do you want to come with Eiji, Oishi, Tezuka and I to eat out?" he asked suddenly.

"N-nani?" I was so surprised that I nearly tripped, but Shusuke once again caught me.

"Am I going to have to make this catching you before you fall, a regular thing?" Shusuke chuckled as I blushed bright red.

"S-shut up." I muttered, "That question just surprised me that's all. I don't…go out…often, at least not with friends."

"Huh…do you not hang out with your cousin and his friends or your other friend that you said that you met a couple months ago?" Shusuke asked a bit surprised.

"Well…I would if it wasn't for the fact that my cousin lives to far for him or I to visit each other regularly. And my other friend…well we can't meet up that much either. She goes to a public middle school not far from here, but she wants to go to a private high school and her family doesn't have much money. So she studies really hard in order to be one of the few students to be qualified to get a scholarship. I hardly ever see her and when I do, we usually just play tennis for an hour or so before her parents pick her up and she's back to studying." I explained as we entered the bungalow and we went into our separate sections to change.

"I see…do you still wish to hang out with us today then?" I heard Shusuke ask as I finished putting my school uniform on.

"I would love to!" I said excitedly before I calmed myself down and proceeded in a calmer tone, "but Baa-chan has a doctor's appointment today around two O'clock and Ojii-san has to drive her. I have to be in charge of the store until they get back. Gomen." I apologized as we both came out of the changing room with our uniform on.

"It's fine, perhaps another day then." Shusuke said.

"Yeah…maybe another day." I sighed, bummed out that I couldn't hang out with Shusuke, Eiji, Oishi, and Tezuka today. "Well, I have to go now. If I want to make it before rush time." I said. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Hai, bye Ryu-kun."

* * *

><p>"I won't let you win that easily!" My opponent gasped out angrily as it was his turn to serve. "Take that!" He shouted as he served the ball over the net and straight towards the left corner.<p>

"You have to try better than that if you want to get at least one point." I said smiling as I hit the ball back over the net to the every right of the single court boundaries. I frowned a bit as the ball landed on the inside of the white line. "Damn, I have to work on that. It would be better if it was more on the line." I sighed as I ran to the front of the net as my opponent managed to tap the ball, causing it to lob.

"Damn it!" he shouted as he ran back towards the baseline, ready for the smash that I had hit so many times throughout the match.

"Nope, not this time." I chuckled as I tapped the ball lightly over the net, making it impossible for my opponent to hit it time.

"Match point!" the umpire called out as I walked back towards the net.

"I'm not done yet!" he shouted as he once again served the ball.

"Too bad." I muttered as I backhanded the ball with my right hand only. "I'll be winning this game for sure."

" GUAH!" He grunted as he barely managed to reach my back hand hit before he ran back towards the middle of the court.

"Better, but you need to be a little more faster." I chuckled as I hit the ball towards the right. He ran towards the ball and managed to backhand it towards me, but with not as much power. I heard excited screams over on the next couple of courts and I could hear the faint cries of Tomoka's cheering.

_Ryoma must be playing against that large glasses boy right now. I really want to see that match…I guess I end the game now._

"As much as I would like to continue to play, I would like to see Ryoma's match so…**Ninja Slice**." I smirked as I pulled my right arm into a backhand position but instead of my racket being near my lower left leg, I held it up near my head. As the ball came closer, I let my arm fall into a slicing motion and as the ball hit the racket, the force of the backhand placed a strong counter spin on the ball. The ball then flew off my racket and over to the other side of the net before it bounced forward, hitting my opponent's side of the net. He was left gasping as he saw the ball bounce forward.

"H-how?"

"Game set! Won by Honda Six-zero." The umpire said as I went up to the net to shake hands.

"Good game." I said as I held out my hand for him to shake. My opponent merely chuckled as he shook hands with my.

"You're really good Honda-sempai. You deserve the substitution spot for the team." He said as we finished out handshake and went to our benches to grab our things.

"Neh Ryu-chan!" I heard Eiji's voice behind me. I looked up from my bag and saw a smiling Eiji along with Oishi. "Great game you played! And that was a cool slice you did nya~!" he smiled as he tried to imitate my **Ninja Slice.**

"Thanks, but it still needs work." I chuckled as I began to put my racket away in my case. "Did you make it on the regular team, Oishi, Eiji?" I asked as I met up with them at the entrance of the gate.

"Hai, and it looks like we'll be gaining a new member this year." Oishi said as he looked over at the over crowed courts that I had screams coming from moments ago. I had to smile even though he had a better spot than me.

"Who is Ryoma playing against?" I asked as I walked to the left of Oishi and Eiji on the right of him.

"He's playing against Inui! He's a regular as well nya~!" Eiji smiled as we walked towards the courts, from a distance I could see Shusuke standing with the Ryoma's friends watching the game intently.

"I hope we haven't missed—"

"Game set! Game won by Echizen Six-four!" I heard the umpire from the court shout out.

"—it. Aw man." I chuckled as we finally reached the courts just in time to see Ryoma shaking hands with Inui. "And here I wanted to see how the little kid did against Inui."

"He did rather well." Shusuke answered me. "Beating two regulars…he's good."

"Sure is." Momoshiro said, as I finally took notice of his appearance behind Ryoma's friends, apparently so did they.

"Momo-chan-sempai!' Kato said surprised as he looked behind to see the towering second year.

"I told you it was fine to call me Momo-chan." He said, smiling at the freshman before he looked up at Ryoma who was talking his time getting off the courts. "He was an amazing opponent against Inui-sempai." Suddenly he smiled widely as he grabbed the trio freshman and hugged them happily. "His **Twist Serve** is more polished than it was when I played him!" Momo called out happily.

"So the chibi is going to be on the team?" Eiji asked before he broke out into a foxy smile. "And so are you Ryu-chan! This is going to be a defiantly good season nya~!" Eiji laughed.

"I suppose so." I chuckled.

"Eh? You're on the team as well?" Momo suddenly asked as the freshmen went to greet their friend. "Ah gomen, my name is Momoshiro but you can call me Momo-chan. And you are…"

"Ryu Honda. Third year transfer student that possibly might be on the team." I said as I shook hands with the taller male.

"Ne don't sound so modest Ryu-chan! Of course he'll be on the team Momo-chan! He won his block with straight wins! Six-zero for all games! And Buchou said that whoever wins that block will be on the team as a substitute!" Eiji explained rather rapidly.

"Ne Honda-sempai." I heard Ryoma call out, directing all of our attentions towards him. He merely stared at me as he held his racket on his left shoulder. "Thanks for the advice on the **Twist Serve**. It really helped." He said before he walked away with his friends in tow.

"Advice?" Shusuke asked along with Oishi and Eiji. It was Momo who responded.

"Oh that's right. On the first day of tennis, you showed him your **Twist Serve** after our mini game. And to think, his serves got sharper because of your advice. Just how good are you?" He asked. I chuckled nervously.

"N-not that great. It's a serve that I practiced a lot on and so I had a couple more years of experience on it. I figured I should share that advice to a fellow **Twist Serve** user." I explained.

"Hmm…it seems you're a strong player too Ryu-kun." Shusuke said, smiling at me. "Have anything else up your sleeve?"

"Not as strong as all of you." I said, rubbing my neck as I grew embarrassed by the compliment, but I still continued to answer his question. "Um…just one more move. I don't have a lot of moves despite what you think." I laughed weakly. Truth to be told, I had many moves up my sleeve, but there was only so much that I could reveal before someone figured out where those moves originated from and then my cover would be blown. I had to stick to my few original ones that I had and I could only go far with those moves.

_I don't think it would be all that bad. I mean, this way I'll be forced to come up with a different style than my father's. Not to mention it would also help me strengthen up my—_

"Hmm. I'll look forward to see it in action soon." Shusuke said interrupting my thoughts. "So you're done with all your games?" he asked.

"Hai, now I get to rest and watch the rest of the matches." I smiled as I took a seat on a bench near Shusuke. "And I'm going to assume that you all made it as regulars?" I asked Shusuke and Momo as Eiji quickly took a seat next to me.

"Nya~ Correct Ryu-chan! All we're waiting for is these last couple of matches to see who's going to be on the team next! I wonder if Inui or Kiado will stay on the team." Eiji asked himself as we watch the last match for Ryoma begin.

"We'll just have to find out." Oishi said as he stood next to Shusuke and then the five of us proceeded to watch the next couple matches. Ryoma, unsurprisingly, won his last set and secured his spot as a regular and then it was the suspenseful last match between the two regulars Kiado and Inui to see who would take the last spot as a member of the Seigaku regular team.

"Game Set, won by Kaido. Seven-five" The umpire of their match called out surprising many of us, who had thought that Inui would win since he was in the lead.

"That was an intense match." I said as I stood up and saw that Tezuka had joined us, replacing Momo's spot. "Ah, hello Tezuka—er Buchou." I said as I greeted the coach.

"Hello. I see you've won all your games." I nodded, "Go warm up on court two." He said leaving me confused.

"N-nani? Why?" I asked.

"You're playing another match."

"Wait, didn't I make the team already? I mean, I won my block." I said. Instead of answering me, Tezuka nodded at Oishi before he left. It seemed that Oishi knew what was going on.

"Eh? What's that about? You're vice captain Oishi-kun, why does Ryu-chan have to play another match? Isn't he a regular now?" Eiji asked Oishi beating me.

"Well, technically Ryu-kun your still a sub and Tezuka just wants to know if you have the same potential as Inui, otherwise he'll replace you with Inui for the substitute spot." While I knew that Tezuka's reason was reasonable, I wished he would have told when he told us about the rules for the block. Or maybe he just made his mind about it now.

"But Ryu-chan made it fair and square!" Eiji pouted

"Don't get mad Eiji, Tezuka just wants to make sure that Ryu-kun has the skills to be a substitute member on our team." Oishi tried to explain to his partner.

"It's fine, really. I'll just go warm up now." I said as I got off the bench and took out my blue and black racket.

"I'll help you warm up." Shusuke said as he took out his own light blue racket.

"Ah thank you." I said as we reached the courts. "I'll take the other side, and would it be alright if I hit first?"

"Not at all."

"Alright here it goes." I said as I served the ball over and once it hit the other side of the court, our rally began. We rallied for at least ten minutes, with none of us losing a ball, before I saw Inui entering the courts.

"Fuji-san, Tezuka wants our match to begin."

"Hai," Shusuke said as he used his racket to catch the ball. "Good luck to the both of you, Inui…Ryu-kun." Shusuke said as he left the courts. Now it was only the two of use on the unused courts and with every other match having ended moments ago, everyone came to watch.

"Looks like we have a full house." I muttered as I went to the net to greet Inui.

_Whoa, I knew from afar he was tall, but…_I looked up to the towering boy and I couldn't help but feel a like a midget, _I knew I should have listened to Baa-chan when she told me to drink more milk._

"Honda-san, I'm looking forward to this game." Inui said as he adjusted his glasses, making a glare appear.

"S-same here Inui-san" I said shaking hands with him. "I never thought I would be facing you this quickly."

"Good data will be collected in this match," He said as he walked over to the base line, "So please do not hold back."

"Good data?" I asked myself as I went to my position on the baseline.

_Good Data…where have I heard that line before?_

"Best of one set match!" the umpire called out as Inui bounced the ball, shaking me out of my thoughts "Inui service play!"I stood ready at the baseline, holding my rack in front of me ready for either a backhand or a forehand. Inui looked up from bouncing the ball, sending another glare of his glasses before he threw the ball high into the air.

_Show me how powerful a regular member is._ I thought as I saw him hit the ball and watched as the ball came over the next. _Show me that I can achieve my dream here at Seigaku!_ As the ball bounce on the right corner of the service box, I returned it with a forehand cross-court, but I was surprised to see Inui at the net already, slamming it back down before it could go any further.

"Possibility of hitting cross-court…95%"

"N-nani?" I gasped as I saw the ball flew towards my left and I quickly ran to get it. "Take this then!" I muttered as I backhanded another hit, this time I aimed for the back right hand corner. Just as before, Inui was already at the net and went to volley the ball to the other side of the court.

_How does he know where I'm going to hit!_ I thought as I waited for a split second before I ran after the ball. _I can't go all out right now, not when there's a possibility for someone to recognize my father's moves. And without those moves, it'll be nearly impossible to counter hit Inui's hits._ The ball was barely out of my reach when in bounced in the service line. _It's going to be a lot tougher to beat Inui than I thought it would._

"Fifteen-love!" The umpire shouted out the score as a first year came to pick up the ball before he rushed back to the safety of the sidelines. I switched sides and waited for Inui to serve. Inui bounced the ball a couple of times before he repeated his moments again but this time, the ball bounced to the left corner of the service box. I returned it gracefully with a backhand, but surprisingly he was already at the net.

_Damn!_ I thought as I raced for the ball he returned and tried to hit it pass Inui only for him to block it. _He's at the net again, ready for my ball! How does he know my next move! Let's see if he can counter my __**Jiguzagu**__ then_. I thought as I got myself into position for my famous cross court hit. As the ball came towards me, I placed my feet into a fighting stance before I placed my left hand straight up in front of my chest and pulled my right arm back, ready to hit the ball. As the ball collided with my racket, I placed a strong spin on it and as it soared over the net, Inui was already there ready to intercept my hit.

_Impossible! How—_

"Possibility of using **Jiguzagu**….96%," Inui said as he slammed the ball down before it could even land on the court. With an unintentional added spin to the ball, as the ball landed on my side, it curved to left preventing me to be able to get it.

"Thirty-love!" I stared at the ball as it rolled off the courts before Inui suddenly spoke up.

"Honda-san, I know you can play much better than this. Just how much do I have to push you to unlock your full potential?" he asked, I looked at the floor before I went to fix my strings not answering him. "In your previous matches, I have seen you hit cross-court when you receive serves. Not because it was an opening but because you have grown used to it and feel more comfortable with it. If you want to beat me, you have to use another method." He said as he walked back to the baseline preparing to serve again and I followed his example once I finished fixing my strings. "That is what I would say if I did not know your moves," He said as he looked back up, ready to serve, "So chances of you winning this match using cross-courts…0%."

"Then I'll use other methods." I muttered, as I raced for the ball Inui served.

_But what other methods?_ I asked myself as I forehanded the ball back—down near alley this time—but Inui was there once again to interpret the ball. _He seems to know all my moves before I can even decide._ I raced for the ball and backhanded the ball, aiming for the left hand ally this time, but Inui stood ready at the net. _Damn and I was sure hitting down near the alleys would throw him off!_

"Possibility of feeling pressured and trying something new…70%" Inui said as he volleyed the ball to the other side of the court, nowhere even near my reach.

"Forty-love." I looked over to where the ball had hit the floor before I sighed deeply.

_Get it together Mitsu…there must be a way for you to get a point…there's the __**Ninja Slice**__ but he'll be at the net after he serves so it won't be as affective. My __**Twist Serve**__ can only be used on my service games, but there's a chance that he countered that serve by playing against Ryoma….and then there's my other move…but I don't want to use it just yet. I guess it'll be my ace card when it comes to a very close game. But what's with all this 95% and 70% stuff? His methods seem really familiar but I don't know where I heard it from. It would really be a great help if I remembered._

"There has to be a way," I muttered as I went to the baseline. "There has to be a way to get the ball pass him." The ball flew over the net as Inui's racket made contact with the ball and I ran up towards the ball with an intention of hitting it to the right of Inui. But as usual, Inui was at the net, and quickly killed my shot. "I'm not going to give up that easily!" I shouted as I raced towards the ball and shot it back towards Inui who was waiting for my ball.

"Frustration level rising….possibility of not thinking straight….75%" Inui said as he back handed a ball towards the other side of the court. Despite the distance there was between the ball and me, I couldn't let it go. I jumped for the ball and luckily I managed to touch the ball with my racket but it had hit the frame.

_No,_ I thought as I saw the ball soaring over me and towards the net. _I…it won't…it's game._ I sighed sadly as the ball bounced on the net before it rolled onto my side of the court.

"Game won by Inui." The umpire said as I heard people mutter around the courts. I picked myself from the floor and the both of us switched courts. As we walked to our new side, Inui muttered

"95%." I stopped to stare at him, but he never turned around. He merely began to explain his small phrase. "As I had said previously, you hit more cross courts shots than a normal person would. You had hardly lobbed any balls over when I watched your previous games and even if you did, my height would give me an advantage. Straight shots are reserved when you're desperate and so your game is based on mostly cross-court shots making it too predictable how to counter act your shots. I have already figured out your game."

My head snapped up as his words triggered a memory and realization appeared on my face. I turned around and smiled to myself.

"I don't believe you have figured out my game Inui-san." I said was I walked away from the bewildered Inui, "I have figured out yours."

"1-0, Honda serve." The umpire called out as I took the balls from courts and placed two of them in my pocket and bounced the other ball as I took my position at the baseline. After a couple of bounces, I grabbed the ball and looked up to see Inui standing at the baseline ready for my serve. I smiled as I threw the ball up in the air and fondly remembered the memory that made me figure out Inui's game

_Flashback_

_It was two years ago, that day was relatively normal. I had convinced my father to let me stay at Seiichi's house for the week and I was getting bored waiting for Seiichi to come back from tennis practice so I made my way towards Rikkaidai tennis courts….again._

"_Seiichi-chan!" I called out for my cousin as I saw him standing on the courts with other freshmen._

_I remembered seeing a boy with a rather strange hair cut, but his closed eyes stood out the most. _

"_Mitsu-chan? What are you doing here?" Seiichi asked as he walked over towards me. Behind him the courts were empty, practice had ended and Seiichi probably wanted to practice some more. I smiled brightly at him as I showed him my racket case._

"_I came here to play! It's boring waiting for you to come back so we can play at the park, so I decided to come here again." I said as if it was a perfectly reasonable answer. Seiichi sighed before he smiled at me and ruffled my hair playfully. _

"_I suppose we can play, but you'll have to play against Renji-kun. I promised Genichiro-kun that I would play a match with him and before you ask, it's singles." I pouted as he answered my question before I could ask him if we could play doubles._

"_Fine, I hope he's good as you then, I want to get better!" I said as I took out my racket from my case. "So who's Renji-san?" I asked as we walked towards Seiichi's new friends._

"_That would be me." The boy with the closed eyes said as he looked…I think he looked at me._

"_This is my cousin, Mitsu-chan, the one I told you about who I practice with." Seiichi introduced me._

"_Mitsu-chan or Mitsu is fine." I said, smiling at them. "So can we play already? I wanna play against Renji-san!" I said jumping up and down. Seiichi merely laughed at me._

"_Very well, just don't hurt yourself now." I took Renji's hand before he could even speak and dragged him to the next court. _

"_Don't worry I won't! So…Renji-san, ready to play?" I asked as I took my position on the other side of the court. _

"_But…aren't we supposed to spin—"_

"_I'll let you choose, what do you want? Side serve?"_

"_I suppose I'll take serve." Renji said as he grabbed a couple of balls left by the previous tennis members. "You'll provide some interesting data."_

"_Data?" I said as I bounced up and down slightly from my spot. _

"_Hai." He threw the ball up in the air and served the ball at an alarming speed._

"_Well at least you're not too bad." I smiled as I ran towards the ball and aimed for a cross-court hit. "Show me what you got!"_

_End of flashback temporarily _

"Take this!" I shouted as my racket made contact with the ball and it soared over the net. Inui quickly raced towards the ball and forehanded the hit back at me. I backhanded the ball to the other side, as Inui was halfway to the ball. We both rallied for a while before I smirked at Inui, surprising him a bit.

"Tell me Inui-san, what would happen to your "Data" if you were suddenly weren't able to calculate my next move." I said as I volleyed the ball in.

"What do you mean?" he asked as he backhanded the ball to the other side. I quickly ran towards the ball, positioning my body for a cross-court hit. "You haven't changed your strategy." He ran straight towards the net ready for my hit.

"Really now." I muttered as I closed my eyes, concentrating on clearing my mind. "I'll show you something that not many people have the privilege of playing against." I said, my voice suddenly becoming void of emotion. I opened my eyes to reveal my once bright blue eyes becoming a dull blue. As the ball came closer towards me, my body was still positioned for a **Jiguzagu.**

"That won't work." Inui said as he positioned himself at the right side of the net, ready to get the ball.

"Psych." I said, and as the ball was about less than a foot away from my racket, I suddenly switched my position to a forehand hit and I hit the ball down the alley, not giving any time for Inui to react.

"N-nani!" Inui and the rest of the crowd gasped as the ball bounced against the wall and slowly rolled back to Inui's side.

"If you can't beat Data, you screw it up." I said, my voice still in monotone.

_Continuation of flashback_

"_Game won by Renji. Five-two." Seiichi called out from the sidelines, taking the position as our umpire. _

"_What the heck!" I shouted as I saw the ball roll back onto the court, before I looked up at Renji. "How are you doing all that? And what's with that 95% and stuff!" I asked._

"_It's called Data tennis." Renji said as tossed the ball to my side so I could serve. "I collect data from my opponents and then by calculating their moves, I can act accordingly to counter act their tennis strategy and win." He said, not giving me a second glance. "And I have already figured out your game." I stared at him for a moment before I chuckled at him, the chuckle then turned into a full blown out laugh. "Hmm? What is it?"_

"_It's so simple!" I laughed as I bounced the ball. "To beat your "Data Tennis" Renji-san. I can't believe I didn't think of this before." I stopped bouncing the ball and then I threw it into the air. "You're lucky, not many people get to play against me when I'm in this mode." I said as I closed my eye as the ball came down towards my head._

"_Mitsu-chan—" Seiichi began before I suddenly snapped my eyes open and quickly slammed the ball before it was one feet away from my head. _

"_Don't worry, Seiichi-chan." I said, my voice suddenly becoming dull. "It won't be that long." _

_Third person POV_

"_That girl" Yukimura sighed as he watched his cousin use her special tennis mode that she reserved for games that she felt pressured by or just when she just wanted to beat her opponents quickly. "When I tell her not to hurt herself she goes and uses that."_

"_Her attitude has changed drastically," Sanada said as he watched the game with stoic eyes. "Not only has she become more calmer, but her eyes…if I remember correctly they were bright blue…now they're a dull blue. What did she mean by mode?"_

"_I suppose it's my fault that she created that mode." Yukimura sighed as he watched Mitsu switch her body at the last minute to hit the ball, messing up Renji's Data. "But to put it simple words…that mode…it clears the users' mind from everything but their instinct. They use that instinct to play tennis and it suddenly becomes very unpredictable. It's like playing an animal that's fighting for survival, her power levels go up, her slices have more spin to them, her stamina rises and she becomes nearly unstoppable. However there are three levels to that mode. Mitsu is at the first level right now. She still has somewhat control over her mind, allowing her to change her mind at the last minute, thus throwing off Renji at the moment." Yukimura explained to his friend as Mitsu quickly won the next point._

"_What are the other levels?" Sanada asked, now intrigued by his friend's cousin._

"_The second level…Mitsu has less control over her mind and you can see her moves become more powerful become less predictable. However…it's the third level you have to watch out for."_

"_What happens?" _

"_Mitsu looses herself to her instincts…she's even less predictable and worse of all…..she won't stop playing tennis…not until she either destroys her opponent or….when she has pass her body's limits and has to be hospitalize." Yukimura said, giving his cousin a worried glance. Mitsu quickly dominated Renji in another game and Yukimura sighed. _

"_Game won by Mitsu. Three-five. Renji serves."_

_End Flashback._

"N-nani!" Inui and the rest of the crowd gasped as the ball bounced against the wall and slowly rolled back to Inui's side.

"If you can't beat Data, you screw it up." I said, my voice still in monotone. I walked over to the other side , bouncing the ball as I waited for Inui to get into position. "Congratulations Inui-san, you have made me use my tennis mode that only a few have ever seen." I muttered, my dull blue eyes locking on his. I saw him take a step back and I lightly smirked. "Don't expect to win."

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><p><strong>And Done. I hope I did an ok job on this chapter. I don't really know if I made the other characters sound in character; I hope I was close enough. :3 I also apologize for the horrible details of the tennis games. When I think about it, (and while I was writing) describing a tennis match is rather…difficult. Or perhaps it's just me. I also apologize if there are any grammar mistakes. I try to catch all of them, but there's always those few that escape. <strong>

**I would appreciate if you guys would review and tell me your opinion about my chapter and if there's anything I should do to make it better. Thank you for reading and hopefully I won't take too long to update this story. **

**Oh, the moves that I created are based on somewhat real life tennis experiences I had/seen. ****Jiguzagu ****(Zigzag in Japanese)**** is based on my tennis hits that I use whenever I play a match with my tennis partner (I actually play double on my school's high school team). While it doesn't have a huge spin on the ball, I do hit deep cross-court hits that make my opponents run a lot. ****Ninja Slice**** is actually based on one of the moves an ex-varsity tennis member used last year. Basically it was a back hand slice she would hit and she would shout "Ninja Slice" as she hit the ball. The ball actually sliced a lot that it seemed to actually bounce back to her. (It's actually a possibility that it did now that I think about it.) And yes, more moves to come! And I'll give you guys the history behind them if you wish. **

**Once again thank you for reading!**

**-Midnightmich.**


	2. First Tournament, New Move

Complications

**A.N: VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ!**

**Ok, I actually placed this story up a while ago and I haven't changed anything, however I never got an e-mail notification for it. "Strange" I thought at first but I didn't do anything so when I updated my other story _The Whirlwind Alchemist_ and found the same thing happening, I thought "Ok this is not normal, what's wrong." and found out that I had to change my e-mail address in order to fix it. *sigh* So I just found out that the people who probably wait for this story to update didn't get the e-mail notification for it. That made me very depressed. So I deleted the chapter and reuploaded it again so hopefully the people who favorited or story alerted my story, could get the notification and actually read it. **

**END A.N.**

**So I'm back again. I hope people haven't been waiting that long for this story to update. I'm not going to lie, I will probably take a while to update again, so yeah don't expect speedy updates. Anyhow, I hope most of you enjoyed the first chapter! So here's the second one, get ready for a flashback in the beginning though. I want to clear up some stuff and yeah. So onward!**

**Oh and thank you for reviewing: **

**PrincessLied: I'm glad you liked the story! I hope with this chapter you'll like it even more.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis only my character Mitsu**

**Talking: **Hello?

**Thinking: **_What the heck!_

**Tennis Moves: Twist Serve!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Last Time<strong>_

"N-nani!" Inui and the rest of the crowd gasped as the ball bounced against the wall and slowly rolled back to Inui's side.

"If you can't beat Data, you screw it up." I said, my voice still in monotone. I walked over to the other side , bouncing the ball as I waited for Inui to get into position. "Congratulations Inui-san, you have made me use my tennis mode that only a few have ever seen." I muttered, my dull blue eyes locking on his. I saw him take a step back and I lightly smirked. "Don't expect to win."

_Flash Back_

_Click…..Print. Bzzzzzzzz. The printer went as it finished printing up the brochure of a middle school that my grandparents agreed to let me go to._

"_Seigaku" I muttered, reading the name off the computer, as if I was trying to hear how the name of the school sounded on my tongue. "Not as great as Rikkaidai but beggars can't be choosers." I said as I pulled my long black hair away from my face. I wheeled myself away from my desk and I rolled in front of the printer grabbing the piece of paper before sighing deeply. _

"_Ok; school choice, done. Asking Baa-chan and Ojii-san to go to Seigaku as a boy, done. Now for the hard part. Telling…Seiichi-chan of my decision to go as a boy to Seigaku. This is going to be a long day." I muttered as I got up from my chair and walked down the flight of stairs into the kitchen or also the known as the back of the store my grandparents owned. "Baa-chan, Ojii-san! Can you take me to—Oh? Seiichi-chan?" I said surprised as I saw my cousin standing at the doorway of the kitchen._

"_Hello Mitsu-chan. It's been a while hasn't it." He smiled as he ruffled my hair._

"_Hey watch the hair! I already brushed it and it takes a long time to get it tamed. I really should cut my hair soon." I muttered the last part as I brushed away a strand of hair that got loose from my pony-tail. "Wait! If you're here then—"_

"_You guessed it! We're here as well!" Akaya suddenly shouted as he pulled me into a headlock causing me to lose my grip on the paper I printed out minutes ago. I heard more footsteps enter the kitchen and from the corner of my eye I saw the rest of the Rikkaidai team enter the small kitchen. Bunta bounced happily to the sweets that were placed on the counter to cool and Jackal was by his side. Genichiro and Renji calmly took a seat on the few chairs that were in the kitchen. Niou and Yagyuu stood in the back, talking quietly amongst each other. _

_Sadly this was a common occurrence between me and Akaya so none of them went to interfere. When the both of us usually fight, we tend to get…a bit messy._

"_Hey! Get off me Aya-kun! I will kick your ass once we're out of the kitchen if you don't let go of me" I shouted but it was muffled by his chest. "Seiichi-chan!" _

"_Hmmm?" I heard Seiichi mutter, "What's this?" the sound of paper winkling in ones hand echoed in the small kitchen and I heard more footsteps gather around Seiichi-chan._

"_Huh! Is that what I think it is?" I heard Bunta mutter as he popped his bubble gum._

"_What does it say?" Akaya asked as he tried to look at the piece of paper. _

"_It's a brochure of the school Seigaku." Seiichi said as the rest of the team began to mutter._

"_What? I know you said your grandparents wanted you to go a private school, but are you really considering of going there Mitsu-sempai?" Akaya shouted surprised. _

"_Wouldn't Rikkaidai be your natural choice?" Genichiro asked, his voice sounding muffled as I was still in Akaya's headlock._

"_Is going to the same school as your cousin really that bad? I'm hurt." Seiichi said, but I could still hear the playfulness in his voice. Putting all my strength to my arms, I pulled myself away from Akaya's headlock and quickly snatched the paper away from Bunta's hand; how it got there I have no clue._

"_Hey!"_

"_No! I would love to go to Rikkaidai! I really would honest!" I said looking at the stunned faces of my practically second family. "You guys mean a lot to me and I would have gone to Rikkaidai without a second thought, but…the distance is a bit too far and not to mention the cost to enter that school is pretty high enough and that is not counting the supplies…I'm already putting a burden on Baa-chan and Ojii-san by living here. I don't want to have them pay more than what they have to." I said, sighing as I placed the paper down on the counter. "Besides….I….I—"_

"_Spit it out already Mitsu-sempai." Akaya said as I stuttered._

"_Fine! .." I shouted in one breath._

"_Whoa, slow down there Mitsu-chan. U.S open?" Seiichi asked shocked evident in his voice._

"_As a guy!" Akaya yelled out as well. _

"_And how successful do you think you'll be. Tezuka is no fool." Genichiro said looking at me with disapproving eyes. "And what made you come up with this foolish idea?"_

"_It's not foolish Genichiro-kun." I said "It's a logical choice. If I was going to Rikkaidai, I would have joined the girl's tennis club which has a good reputation as the guys…winning Nationals two times in a row. However at Seigaku….the team there…they don't even make it to the second round. So the only way to get better at tennis would be if I joined the boys tennis team and play against other schools. Besides guys are more competitive than girls and I hate to say it, but sometimes better so it would be logical to join the guy's tennis club at Seigaku."_

"_However, the other members at Seigaku are also keen; they won't be easily fooled by your disguise." Renji said as he looked at me with his closed eyes that I had grown accustomed to._

"_Hey, I managed to trick Niou into thinking that I was Genichiro's little sister for a whole month before you decided enough was enough Genichiro-kun." I said directly to Genichiro and Niou._

"_Hey that was only one time—"_

"_And I managed to trick you into believing that I was Seiichi-chan for a whole day." I said smugly._

"_Don't remind me." He muttered, rubbing his neck out of embarrassment. "A trickster getting tricked by a rookie. She does have a point though. I can trick anyone and if someone's able to trick me, then she can pull of this off no problem."_

"_But Mitsu-chan, have you thought this thoroughly? You're only thinking about the easy things. What are you going to do when it becomes too difficult?" Seiichi asked worry etched into his voice._

"_What do you mean by difficult? What's so difficult about being a guy? And I have thought this through….ok not all the way but most of it!" I pouted as I crossed my arm in front of my chest._

"_What are you going to do if your cover is blown though?" Akaya asked poking me in the cheek. I pushed his hand away and glared at him._

"_Well, since I'm not you Aya-chan I won't get my cover blown." I smirked at him as I saw him twitch angrily. _

"_AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!" He shouted as he got into my face._

"_FIGURE IT OUT ON YOUR OWN, WAIT YOU CAN'T!" I screamed back as we had a glaring contest before we were pulled apart. _

"_That's enough, we don't want to have a fight this early." Seiichi said as he patted my head childishly. "But Kirihara has a point though. If your cover is blown, we won't be there to help you."_

"_Seiichi-chan, I can take care of myself, I have for the past several years 'til Dad sent me to live with Baa-chan and Ojii-san." I said sighing a bit. Really, I could take care of myself, I knew how to defend myself, I could cook, I can do laundry, basically all the stuff a kid needs to know when they're on their own! _

"_I still call this idea foolish, many things can go wrong and you are not logically thinking this through." Genichiro said, sternly looking at me. "This decision is up to you Mitsu, but know this, if you come for me for help, do not expect any." I nodded at him, expecting such an answer from him._

"_Of course Genichiro-kun" I said. "Renji?"_

"_You will have a 74.1% chance of getting caught. It's not a decision I would take a risk for." He said._

"_Thank you for your honesty though Renji-kun." I sighed._

"_I also think it's not a wise choice to take Mitsu-chan." Yagyuu said, adjusting his glasses. "There are many risks involved and just like buchou said before we won't be there to help you."_

"_Well, cheer up Mitsu-chan. I have your back." Niou said interrupting his friend as he placed an arm over my shoulder. "Deceiving the whole Seigaku team of your gender, I wish I can be there to see it. So do your Nii-san a favor, let it last until we see each other at nationals." He smirked at me._

"_Of course Niou-kun." I giggled as I happily hugged him, "I did learn from the best after all."_

"_And here I was hoping to go to the same school as you Mitsu-chan." Bunta pouted as he popped his bubblegum. "But if Seigaku is where you really want to go, then I'll support you. Just make sure to let me play against you in the future. I won't lose to you again." He said with a determined face._

"_I'll support you as well, Mitsu-chan" Jackal said, surprising me with his decision. I thought for sure he would be against it as well. "I believe you'll be fine." Smiling widely at the both of them, I fought my way out of Niou's grasp and went to hug the both of them. _

"_Thank you, thank you! And Bunta, you'll be the one losing. I don't lose to the same person twice…with the exception of Seiichi-chan." I chuckled as the both of them hugged me back._

"_Hey, what about your promise we made!" Akaya suddenly shouted out, catching my attention. "I mean what's going to happen to it now?" he muttered as he crossed his arms and looked away. I chuckled softly and went to ruffle his already messy hair._

"_Don't worry, our goal to defeat The Big Three will still continue. We'll just be training separately. We'll get together and train for a bit once in a while. And by the end of the year, we'll defeat them for sure." I said smiling at him. "I never break my promises Aya-kun." He shook my hand off and looked off to the side, but a saw a small smile appear on his face._

"_Fine, I guess I'll support your decision. But you can't slack off while you're there!" he yelled as he turn towards me, pointing his finger at me. _

"_Oh not a chance Aya-chan. I won't let you get better than me…Seiichi-chan? What do you think about my idea?" I asked him as he had stayed silent throughout the whole conversation. I was not sure how he would answer, he could go either way. Seiichi merely sighed as he shook his head._

"_Your idea has many flaws to it, anything can happen to you while you're at Seigaku and we won't be there to save you. I would prefer that you would enter Seigaku as a girl; however, you've always been….stubborn. I know we can't stop you once you have your mind set on something. So all I ask of you is to stay safe and be cautious of others. I don't want you to get hurt." He said giving me a barely noticeable smile._

"_Thank—"_

"_However, I want you to understand the consequences of your actions should your identity be revealed and be prepared to take the punishment that follows. And Tezuka is not flexible. He's just as strict as I am when it comes to leading our team. He may be even worse. Are you prepared for the obstacles that may come your way?" he asked with a stern stare that he hardly uses on me. I blinked a couple of times before smiling brightly at him._

"_Hai, I'm prepared. If I went through the same training as you guys, then nothing can stop me." Without warning, I sprang towards Seiichi and gave him a bear hug. "Thank you Seiichi-chan….it really means a lot to me if you're supporting my decision."_

"_Well, so what's our little "brother" new name then?" Niou asked as he broke the cousin bonding scene, putting quotations around the word brother. _

"_That's right, you can't use your real name. It's a dead giveaway." Akaya pointed out._

"_Well…I've been thinking of using Ryu Honda." I said remembering the name I gave Baa-chan and Ojii-san to give to their friend to make me…err to retrieve my documents to enter Seigaku as a boy._

"_Ryu Honda…has a nice ring to it." Bunta said smiling popping his bubblegum again._

"_Honda?" Seiichi asked a bit surprised before smiling softly at me. "I like it."_

"_Why does the name Honda sound familiar?" Akaya asked as he placed his hands into a thinking pose._

"_It's mother's last name before she married. I think I told you guys about that before. I want to have something of her when I go to Seigaku at least." I smiled sadly. _

"_Ok, enough of this sad stuff. Let's go celebrate the…"birth" of Ryu Honda!" Niou said excitedly as he patted my shoulder. I laughed at his carefree attitude. _

"_Fine, but not here! Otherwise I'll have to serve you guys and that's not a celebration for me." I chuckled as Niou slung his arm around my shoulder._

"_Don't worry, it's our treat today puri~."_

"_Wait, wait, wait! Slow down," Bunta said, catching the attention of all the tennis members. "What about your hair? Aren't you going to cut it?" he asked me as he pointed towards my black chest length hair._

"_Eh? What's wrong with it? There are guys out there that have long hair. Take Niou for example." I pouted. While I did at times hate the length of my hair, I also liked it. It was sort of a hate love relationship I suppose. _

"_Don't get me wrong, it's nice and all but—"_

"_No guy has hair THAT long" Akaya said interrupting Bunta. Well, he did have a point. If I wanted to pull off my disguise as a guy, then sacrifices had to be made. _

"_Well…I guess I could cut it a bit shorter…I have been meaning to cut it for a while—"_

"_Great! I know a perfect hairstyle for you!" Bunta said smiling as he grabbed a hold of my hand and dragged me into the house…more specifically the bathroom. _

"_Bunta…what are you getting at?" I asked warily as we neared the bathroom._

"_You'll see." He said, with a small glint in his eye and before I knew it, Bunta shoved me into the bathroom and locked the door behind him._

"_O-oi! Bunta!" I heard the rest of the members yell out behind the door. "Open up!"_

"_In a moment!' he shouted back as he took a nearby stool and forced me to sit on it. "Now where are the scissors?" he muttered as he looked through the various drawers all the while holding me down._

"_Scissors? Why do you need scissors?" I asked in an uncharacteristically high voice. "Bunta I don't like where this is going! Let me go please!" I nearly squeaked as I saw him hold the pair of scissors high into the air. _

"_Oi! What are you doing to Mitsu-sempai! Bunta!" Akaya's voice shouted over the other voices on the other side of the door. "OI!" _

"_Hold your horses, Kirihara-kun" Bunta sighed as he grabbed my loose pony-tail, "And relax Mitsu-chan. You said you needed a haircut so what better way to get that problem taken care of than for me to cut it myself!" he cheerfully said as he took off my hair tie and grabbed a lock of hair. I sighed as I let him do as he pleased. He had a point, now I didn't have to spend about fifteen bucks on a haircut, but…_

"_Fine, but you better not get any bubblegum in my hair or I swear I'll—"_

"_I won't, I won't. Don't squirm so much." Bunta said as I heard him snip away. I looked down and saw my long locks of black hair fall to the floor, the birth of Ryu Honda just begun._

_End of flash back._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mitsu's POV<strong>_

"New Tennis mode?" Inui muttered as he took position at the base line, "No data available."

"Oh course not." I said my voice still in monotone. "It's something that I created on my own, only I have the complete understanding of this mode." I threw the ball up into the air and I grunted a bit as my racket made contact with the ball, sending it over the net and straight to the left corner of the service box. Both of us continue to rally for a while; however, Inui was having a bit of trouble keeping up with the rally. I would trick him into thinking that I would hit a certain direction when at the last second I would change the position of my body and hit somewhere else, where Inui had to run to barely hit the ball.

"Fifteen-love, thirty-love, forty-love." The umpire called out as I easily won the next couple of points and before anyone knew it, I had won the second game in about ten minutes.

"Sugo!" I heard Eiji cry out as I waited for Inui to serve, "Ryu-chan has something up his sleeve that even Inui hasn't seen before!"

"It seems finding precise calculations has become rather difficult…how should I counter this?" I heard Inui murmur as he bounced the ball.

"There's no way to counter this." I said, "This match is has been decided."

"We'll see about that." Inui said as he threw the ball high into the air and served the ball before it could come within two feet of his head.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Third Person POV<strong>_

"Game Set. Match. Won by Honda Six games to three." The umpire called out as Ryu Honda, a transfer student won against a Seigaku regular with relative ease. Both players sweated profoundly, but it was only Inui who was breathing rather rapidly. Ryu Honda merely looked at Inui with dull stoic blue eyes as stood there, as if waiting for a serve. "Um Honda-san, the game's over." The umpire called out as he did not make a move to the net. All he gave to the umpire was a simple nod as he walked towards the net and shook hands with Inui.

"Good game. It seems your tennis mode was rather effective. But I won't make the same mistakes twice Honda-san." Ryu just stared at Inui with his rather monotonous gaze and said nothing as he went to go to put his racket away. "Hmm? He wasn't like this at the beginning of our match. I wonder if this new tennis mode affects him more than I thought." Inui muttered as he watched Ryu soundlessly put his racket away.

"Neh, Ryu-chan you did it! You beat Inui! And you even got a better score than chibi-chan!" Eiji cried as he jumped over to Ryu, smiling as he did. "Eh? Are you ok Ryu-chan?" Ryu still didn't respond as he took out a towel and wiped the sweat off himself.

"Hmm? Ryu-kun? Are you there?" Shusuke asked as he waved a hand in front of Ryu's eye. He didn't even blink as he looked straight ahead, as if there was nothing.

"What's wrong with Honda-sempai?" Horio asked as he and the other freshmen took notice of their rather unresponsive sempai. "He doesn't look like himself."

"Honda-sempai?" Ryoma suddenly asked. "Honda-sempai, snap out of it, the game's over." Still no response came from the transfer student.

"Oh! I know! He's probably still hot from the match and needs to cool down! Ice cold water should do the trick nya~!" Eiji smiled happily as he unscrewed the bottle cap of his water that he recently filled with cold water from the fountain. "How do you feel now Ryu-chan~!" Eiji said as he poured the ice water on the unsuspecting tennis player.

"AI DOIS MIO!" He shouted as the water poured down from his head to his shirt. Immediately his dull eyes returned to the vibrant blue they were an hour and thirty minutes ago. He looked around with wide eyes and a shocked looked appeared on his face.

"Where—what—who—what—why did you do that?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mitsu's POV<strong>_

The feeling of tiny pins piercing my skin awoke me from my trance, a trance that I shouldn't have gone to but somehow I ended up going into the second level of my tennis mode and I didn't notice until it was too late. Usually when I enter this mode, it's rather hard for me to exit it unless something unexpected hits me…like Genichiro's slap. That left a bruise for a couple of days… Or ice cold water. I think I prefer Genichiro's slap to the ice cold water if I feel like this every time someone pours water over me.

"AI DIOS MIO!" I shouted in my grandma's native language as I was set free from my tennis mode. I looked around my surroundings and I was surprised to see myself at the bench where my tennis gear was and Eiji, Shusuke, Horio, Kato, Mizuno, and surprisingly Ryoma where standing around me. Oh, did I mention that when I enter my second level of my tennis mode I tend to forget the match that I played? So I only remembered playing against Inui for about four games until I blacked out. I learned not to panic when this happens, it gets Seiichi all worried and he has enough to worry about since he's the captain of the Rikkaidai team. Besides, it's not like it does any damage to me…I think. But sadly I couldn't keep my confusion out of my voice this time.

"Where—what—who—why did you do that?" I shouted as I finally came back, before I started to internally panic as I noticed my wet shirt.

_Wait, water's on me, it's soaking through my shirt…MY SHIRT! THEY'LL SEE MY FIGURE IF MY SHIRT'S WET! I HAVE TO CHANGE!_

"Nya~ Did that feel better?" Eiji asked as he placed his hands behind his head smiling cheerfully.

"You did seem a little out of it Ryu-kun. Are you sure you're alright?" Shusuke asked as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah—I just, I just—it was bit hot, I guess I was a bit out of it. Happens all the time." I chuckled nervously as I put the towel that I seemly got from my bag when I was out of it, back into my tennis bag. I needed to get out before they could see underneath my shirt.

"Oh Tezuka. Where you here this whole time?" Eiji suddenly asked. Turning around, I saw Tezuka standing behind us, staring at me intently.

"Honda-san. Congratulations, you are now a member of the Seigaku tennis team." Tezuka said as he gave me an approving nod.

"Ah…arigato Tezuka-san." I quickly said as I got up and bowed rather swiftly to him. "I'm honored to be on the Tennis team. But can I change? I would rather have a dry shirt on." I asked.

"Hai—"

"Thanks, I'll be right back!" I said as I grabbed my bag and made a dash to the changing room. Closing the door behind me, I sighed in relief as I dropped my bag to the floor. "That was close. I think if I stayed out there for a minute longer, they would have seen my figure. The bandages would have loosened up and they would have surely seen my chest." I said as I saw my figure becoming more prominent as I looked at myself through a mirror the changing room had. "That would have been disastrous." I sighed as I took off my wet shirt and tank top and replaced the bandages that were becoming loose. Once they were retightened; I got a new tank top and another blue shirt out of my bag and pulled it over my head.

"Ryu-kun? Are you in here?" I heard Oishi's voice behind the door. Quickly, I stuffed my bag with my damp clothes and after one quick look over my chest to see that it wasn't as prominent as before, I replied cheerfully at him.

"Hai, Oishi-kun. Is there something you need?" I asked as I went to open the door.

"Here, since you're a tennis club member we'll need your size." Oishi smiled at me as he gave me a piece of paper with different sizes written on it.

"Sizes?" I asked confused.

"Hai, we need to preorder your uniform. Since you're a bit smaller than the rest of the team, we'll have to place a special order yours." Oishi explained. "Oh and Tezuka said that practice starts tomorrow so get a good's night rest and be ready for practice. You may be a substitute, but you'll train as hard as the regular members do."

"Got it. Thank you Oishi, I'll turn it in to you by tomorrow." I said, bowing down at him. "Good-bye."

"Bye Ryu-san." As soon as Oishi left the changing room, I jumped up in joy, not caring if anyone saw me.

"Yatta! I'm on the regular Seigaku team! This calls for a celebration." I smiled to myself, "I can't wait to tell Seiichi-chan and the others about this! Baa-chan can make me aroz choufa again!" I smiled as I left the changing room. This was a wonderful way to end the day.

* * *

><p>"Alright everyone, gather up!" Tezuka shouted as we finished up rallying with each other.<p>

"Hai!" the tennis club cried out as we gathered into formation. All the regulars, including the two newest members—Ryoma and I still in our normal workout outfit since our uniforms would not be here until later on today—stood in a single line in the front. The rest of the other tennis players stood behind us and the freshmen stood at the very back. I looked at my right and I saw the rest of the regulars who made the team. Shusuke, Eiji, and Momo stood straight and stared ahead at Tezuka and Oishi who stood with coach Ryuzaki. (I had finally officially met with her a couple of days after the first day of school.) Next to the trio were two members that I hadn't fully met with yet. Kaido, if that was his name, stood at the edge with his orange bandana on his head and next to him was a brown haired boy with very noticeable sideburns. He looked very shy and not very menacing, he looked nervous in fact. However, if there's anything I learned at Rikkaidai is not to underestimate anyone. He could potentially be one of the strongest guys on the team. I'll just have to wait and see.

"I shouldn't have to say it," Coach Ryuzaki began, gaining my attention, "But the Regional's are right around the corner. The eight chosen regulars and one substitute at the ranking tournament will have to train hard in preparation for the tournament. The level of tennis at all the other schools has increased. Therefore don't take it lightly." She finished as she looked in my general direction. "Adjured!" she said before I could figure out why she was looking at me as she looked back at the rest of the team members.

"Well then, practice will continue. Second and third year members in court three. Court one and two will be for the regular members." Tezuka said and the rest of the tennis members rushed to their respective places as Tezuka finished giving out orders.

"Finally!" Eiji smiled as he stretched out, "we can finally rally—"

"Wait a minute," Coach Ryuzaki said, stopping us before we could choose a court and rally, "For the regular members, I have asked Inui to prepare a special training menu." She said as Inui, in a white shirt and green sweat pants, came to the court with a cardboard box.

"Hello." Inui said as he gave a small wave before he placed the box down, revealing tennis ball of different color lines on it and…weights? "To survive until the national tournament we first of all must train our foot work." He explained as he passed the weights to the tennis team. Quickly we placed them on, walking around a bit to get the feel of them.

_Well, I'm glad Seiichi and Genichiro made me wear weights while I trained with them otherwise I wouldn't be used to this. _I thought as I jumped up and down, the weights not affecting me as much. _I say this is around…one kilogram. Not that much really,_ _I think the max I went up to was six…no seven kilograms. But I guess I'll have to pretend for them to affect me while we play otherwise it would be suspicious. _

"That's not a lot of weight." Momo said as he looked at Inui. True, one kilogram doesn't feel heavy at first but after a while…your legs start to burn from the added weight.

"Furthermore; red, blue, and yellow cones have been placed on the courts. Accompanying them are color-coded red, blue, and yellow tennis balls." Inui said as he pointed to the courts and showing us three tennis balls with the colors he had just described.

"Hmmm…I see." Eiji said smiling as he walked onto one of the courts that were prepared with the cones. "So all we have to do is hit the tennis ball to the same color cone, sounds easy enough nya~"

"However, make an error and it's over." Inui ominously said before he took out his racket and forehanded a hit to Eiji. As the ball flew over the net, Eiji had already called out the color of the ball before hitting it to the red cone.

"It's astounding really." Oishi said as Shusuke and I stood next to Oishi, waiting for our turn at the exercise. "After Inui hits the ball, Eiji can distinguish the color right away."

"What?" I said surprised as turned to Oishi who confirmed by nodding his head. "He has that great of eyesight? Amazing." I muttered as I turned my attention back to Eiji who had called out yellow as the ball barely left Inui's racket.

"Being able to distinguish the colors while moving is a skill that can't be matched." Oishi smiled as he watched his tennis partner continue hitting the balls to the proper cones.

"That's not true," Shusuke suddenly said, surprising the both of us. "Look at the next court." Shusuke pointed to the court over, where Coach Ryuzaki fed the ball to Ryoma. As I took a closer look, I saw that just like Eiji, Ryoma called out the color of the ball as it barely leaves Coach Ryuzaki's racket and hitting them to the proper cones.

"Sugo." I gasped lightly. "Ryoma-kun certainly has more talent than I thought."

"Oh look, it looks like the weights are finally affecting them." Shusuke said as we saw the both of them stop for a moment looking surprise, probably at the feeling of the added weights.

"Hey, my feet suddenly feel heavier." Eiji said before he took his regular position. "This might be tougher than I thought." Inui quickly returned to hitting the ball to Eiji and as it flew towards him, Eiji called out the color of the ball.

"Isn't it blue?" Inui smirked as he tricked Eiji into believing the ball was blue, when in fact it was red—the color that Eiji called out earlier—and Eiji failed to hit the ball.

"Hey! It was red! Inui, that's not fair you cheater!" Eiji pouted angrily.

"If you lose your stamina, your judgment will also be impaired." Inui explained as he walked up to the net where Eiji was. "Kikumaru, switch positions. Oh by the way, I forgot to tell you, those who make errors will drink Inui's special vegetable juice." He smiled as he held up a glass of…was it green, I think it was green, liquid. Immediately, everyone from the tennis team tensed up, except for me, Shusuke, and Ryoma, as if they just received their death sentence.

"What's wrong with a vegetable drink?" I asked Shusuke who didn't seem too affected by the mention of the drink. "It's not that bad, my Baa-chan makes me drink a cup of it once in a while. Why is everyone scared?"

"Hmm…I don't know really, Inui drinks are rather tasteful." Shusuke said—not making much sense—as he smiled at me. I looked back at the court to see Eiji take the glass of…Inui's juice, and gulping the drink rather quickly. Seconds passed and as Eiji finished the drink, he dropped the glass and immediately ran for the tennis court exit.

"BLAH! What's this!" he shouted as he sped across the courts, "Water, I need water, water!" his cries could still be heard as he was out of our sight.

_N-nani…Shusuke said it wasn't that bad…unless…I mean what's the worse a vegetable drink could taste?_ I looked back at the courts just in time to see Ryoma accept Inui's drink before he too rushed out of the tennis courts looking sick.

"What are you doing?" Coach Ryuzaki yelled catching the attention of the rest of the tennis members as we watched two of our members rush out of the courts looking rather ill from the drink, "Oishi, Kawamura you're next!" I looked at Oishi and gave him a small smile.

"Um…good luck Oishi-kun?"

"Thank you Ryu-kun…I might just need it." He said as he grabbed his racket and looked at the courts determinedly, probably determined not to drink the dreaded Inui's vegetable juice. However, just like the previous tennis members, Oishi couldn't take the weight of the ankle weight and made a mistake, causing him to drink Inui's juice. He ran out of the courts just as fast as Eiji had done. I looked over to see the brown haired boy, most likely Kawamura, shaking nervously.

"Here's your racket Taka-san." Shusuke said, smiling at Kawamura as he gave him a yellow racket.

"Ah, sorry Fuji." He said very quietly and just as his hands touched the racket, his quiet and nervous personality disappeared and he became rather energetic and confident.

"RED!" he shouted, surprising me at his sudden change of personality, as he hit the tennis ball with great force.

"Did he…wasn't he just…how does a person change personalities that quickly?" I asked Shusuke who chuckled at me.

"Taka-san's personality changes when he grabs his racket. Why? I do not know myself."

"Well, I can see how he made the team." I said as I watched Kawamura continue the exercise. "Although it's hard to believe a racket can change his personality so much—oh he hit the wrong cone." I said as I saw yet another member fall to Inui's drink. "And there goes Momo-chan as well." I saw Momo quickly follow the same path the other members ran and I began to fear the drink even more.

_I don't want to drink it, I really don't. But I can't just do perfect on this exercise! What am I going to do!_

"Ne, Ryu-kun, it's our turn." Shusuke said as he nudged me. I looked up and saw Kaido run off as well, probably due to Inui's drink.

"This isn't going to end well." I mumbled as we both walked onto the courts.

"Don't worry, it's not that bad." Shusuke said as he took his place on Inui's court as I went to Coach Ryuzaki's.

"It's kind of hard to believe that after seeing everyone run for water." I sighed as took a ready position.

"Here it comes Honda!" Coach Ryuzaki called out as she fed a tennis ball at me.

"Red!" I shouted as I ran towards the ball and saw the color red on it and proceeded to hit it towards the red cone. A blue ball appeared next, and I continued to hit the balls to their respective cones and prayed that I wouldn't mess up.

"Fuji you did it on purpose!" I heard Eiji cry out. Curious to what the commotion was about, I looked over the next court and saw Shusuke grab Inui's Juice without any fear.

"Yeah, I want to drink it at least once." He said surprising me as he drank the fearsome juice. After finishing the drink, he surprised me even more as he cheerily said, "This is quite good. I recommend it."

"Honda!" I heard Coach Ryuzaki shout out before I saw a tennis ball fly towards me. Quickly I turned my attention back to the court and I only had enough time to see yellow fly at me. With quick reflexes, I managed to swing the racket at the tennis ball and aimed it for the yellow cone, praying that it was the correct color.

"Yellow?" I asked sheepishly as the ball rolled away from the cone after making contact with it.

"Sorry it's red." She said smiling at me. "However, those were rather good reflexes you have. If you paid more attention you could have probably hit the correct cone."

"But since you made an error you'll have to drink my special vegetable juice." Inui said behind me and I tensed up. The rest of the tennis members, besides Tezuka, had returned and were lying on the floor, still recovering from the drink.

"I—do I—do I have to?" I asked sheepishly.

"It's not that bad really Ryu-kun." Shusuke said as he came towards me. Inui shoved the green juice at me and I knew I had no choice, but to drink it. Sighing, I reluctantly grabbed the cup of Inui's vegetable's juice and took a sip of the drink. Immediately I wanted to spit it out but my grandma's words came back haunting me

'_Don't ever spit out anyone's drink or food! Not only is it disrespectful, but it'll hurt the person's feelings. They may have worked on it for a long time and it's not their fault if they can't get the flavors on the first try like me. And yes you might hate it, but it's better to finish the drink or meal without any faces, and if it's really bad, just finish it and after give them tips to make it better.' That's what Baa-chan would say…and then she'll smack my head to get it drilled into me. Damn her and her politeness!_

I closed my eyes as I finished the rest of the drink, not showing my disgusted face and mentally cried as I destroyed my taste buds. Seconds after finishing the drink, I slowly gave the glass to Inui before giving him a very pained smile.

"It has its own…unique flavors, but I recommend putting some milk and perhaps a fruit or two to create a…more desirable taste." I said to him before I turned around and walked calmly as I could to my racket case where I gulped down my water bottle in less than ten seconds.

_Oh mis gatos! What the hell! That was probably the nastiest thing I ever tasted and Dad has cooked some rather horrible stuff over the past several years! _

"Ryu-chan how did you handled it?" Eiji gasped out as I placed my finished water bottle down and mentally cursed myself for bringing only one bottle.

"Dad…he couldn't cook and I had to endure his cooking for about five years until I taught myself how to cook so I wouldn't have to eat his…food." I shuddered as I remembered all the meals he cooked for me, when he remembered me. Those where rather frightening years…I think one of his meals came alive at one point though…

"Everyone did better than I thought." Inui said as Tezuka finished his exercise without any mistakes and avoiding drinking the fearsome vegetable juice. Everyone, with the exception of Tezuka, Shusuke, and I, were lying on the floor still affected by the drinks. "Kikumaru, you have a habit of losing your grip during your shot. That'll improve if you develop your forearm muscles. Oishi and Kaido have to work on their forward and backward movement. Kawamura and Fuji have to work on their left and right dash. You need to develop your quadriceps and triceps muscles and Honda, your backhand needs work, not only is it lacking power but accuracy as well. You barely managed to hit your intended target when using a back hand. I recommend you work on your forearm muscles like Kikumaru."

"Where are those muscles?" We shouted at Inui who wasn't affected by our outburst and continued to give the rest of the remaining members advice.

"Momoshiro, your accuracy will improve if you hold your shots to 70% of your full strength."

"Yeah…" he muttered still recovering from the drink's after effects.

"Tezuka did well in not missing any, but he needs more flexibility. Your expression is too cold as well." Some of the members tried to mask their giggles at Inui's bluntness, but they failed at it. "And Echizen, let's start with two glasses of milk a day." Inui said as he gave a panting Ryoma two glass bottles of milk.

"Even if I drink a lot of milk, I won't grow that fast." He objected as he sat up.

"Drink it." The other members of the tennis team said unanimously.

"Inui's recommending it. There is no mistake." Tezuka said rather calmly.

"He tested it on himself already." Coach Ryuzaki said confirming the captain's words.

_So that's why he's tall for a middle schooler…maybe I should have drank more milk when I had the chance to._

"Back to the subject," Inui began as he went back to his cardboard box and rummaged through it. "Let's add one more weight block."

"Wait a minute Inui." Shusuke said as Inui pulled out several weights from the box.

"Five weights are ok." Momo said smiling as we saw the weight already on Inui's leg. "It's the same as yours. We are eventually going to end up with five weights right Inui-sempai?"

"I don't even mind six weights." Ryoma said, smirking a bit, as he pulled his hat down to hide his smirk.

"No, for regulars…you're going up to ten." Everyone was silent for a moment before we grabbed a couple of balls on the court and threw them at the cruel Inui.

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY INUI!" Both Eiji and I yelled at him, along with Momo. Well, Seiichi was right about training and that it was going to be different from Rikkaidai's training…all I can hope is for my leg and arms not to fall off during training. However, I couldn't stop myself from smiling; while these practices were a bit difficult at times, it made me closer to my team. I guess I shouldn't be surprised if I make another family here at Seigaku.

"Alright! Resuming practice, the goal is to be number one out of all the junior high schools!" Oishi shouted once we had run out of ammo to hit Inui with.

"SEIGAKU!" Eiji shouted happily as he pumped his fist into the air.

"Fight!"

A couple of hours later, I found myself walking with Shusuke to the tennis store to pick up my tennis uniform that I had ordered a couple days before.

"I'm sorry for asking you to show me where the tennis store is." I apologized to Shusuke as we walked down the streets of Tokyo. "The only tennis store I know of is where my cousin lives and I don't go out into the city much."

"It's fine Ryu-kun. Besides, I want to see how you look in your uniform." He chuckled as I blushed lightly.

"I—you—you're teasing me right?"

"Hmm…perhaps…oh here we are at the store." Shusuke said before I could ask him what he meant by that. "Come on, let's go in." He said as he opened the door for me.

"Thanks."

"Welcome, how can I help you?" a male behind the counter asked as we walked into the store.

"Ah, I'm here to pick up my jersey? Ryu Honda? Tezuka said that it would be ready by today."

"Ah so you're the other new member from Seigaku huh. I have your uniform right here, although I had to make some adjustments to the shirt. While your size isn't quite a small, it's not a medium either; it's the smallest medium I had to make." He said as he gave me a blue and white package which I presumed held my uniform.

"Ah thank you. How much is it?" I asked as I gave my uniform to Shusuke to hold while I took out my wallet.

"Thirty dollars." I took out a couple of bills and gave it him.

"Thank you and come again." He said as he gave me a receipt and waved happily to Shusuke and I as we exited the store.

"I'm not that small…am I?" I asked Shusuke as we stood outside on the sidewalk.

"Well, to most third year boys you are but you're around average height if you compare yourself with the girls." Shusuke chuckled as I sighed. "Why don't you try it on right now?" he asked as he handed me my uniform.

"You can't wait until tomorrow can't you?" I said, sighing as I took out the jacket.

"No, not really."

"Here, happy now." I smiled as I placed the crisp blue and white jacket on my shoulders like Seiichi would with his tennis jacket.

"Hmm, you're not going to put it all the way on?"

"You never said I had to fully put it on, just to try it." I smirked as I managed to trick Shusuke for once. Shusuke chuckled at me.

"I suppose you're right. Well, I must be on my way home now. I'll see you at practice next time then?" he smiled at me before we went our separate ways.

"Hai, and thank you again Shusuke-kun for showing me where to find this tennis store—eh?" My phone suddenly vibrated surprising me; I had nearly forgotten I had my phone in my pocket. "One moment." I said as I pulled out my phone from my pocket and read the text that I just received. "…EH! THERY'RE AT MY HOUSE! Ah gomen Shusuke-kun but I have to go now." I said as I turned around and began running towards my grandparent's bakery. "I'll see you next time!" I shouted back as I sprinted towards my house.

_Why can't they tell me in advance when they plan to visit? Seiichi better keep an eye on Akaya this time. I do not want to come home to a room filled with pink stuff again._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, bee—thwack!<strong>_ The poor alarm clock didn't even have a chance to finish it's melody as my left hand smashed snooze button, probably breaking it again.

"Ugh….why can't I sleep in on Saturdays?" I groaned as poked my head through my covers, my hair covering my eyes since my slumber had ruffled my hair quite a bit. Slowly I pulled the covers off myself and sat up on my bed in my dark room, but did nothing else.

**Bzzzz, Bzzzzz, Bzzzzz** went my cell phone on my desk snapping me out of my trance.

"What now." I groaned as I got up from my bed and went to pick up my phone not bothering to check who was calling me. "Moshi Moshi?"

"Eh, Mitsu-chan? You sound like you just woke up." I heard my cousin's voice over the phone waking me a bit.

"Seiichi-chan?" I yawned as I tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes. "Why are you calling so early?"

"Mitsu-chan did you forget about our little get together we were having today? I'm calling you to tell you we're about five minutes away from your house and that you should be ready." Silence echoed my room before I dashed to my calendar and saw that indeed I had marked this day as an outing with my cousin, "And it's not early. It's almost ten."

"EHHHHHHHHHH!" I shouted into the phone surprised that I had forgotten about today and that it was almost ten. I quickly pulled open my curtains that made my room dark and was momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight that entered my room. "Shoot! Um, I'll be ready don't worry, just grab something to eat at Baa-chan's bakery and tell her it's on me." I said running around in my room grabbing my clothes that I would wear for today and tripping over my books and bags that I had left carelessly on the floor the night before. "See you soon Seiichi!" I said as I hung up on Seiichi and made a dash to the bathroom. With a record time, I finished my shower in about five minutes and rushed back to my room to find my bag to put my phone and wallet. "They should be here soon….huh?" I said as I heard my phone vibrate again, but this time indicating a text and I went to go look to see who it was.

Nori

-Sorry! I told you I was on my way two hours ago but I got caught in traffic and I stopped for breakfast. I'll be there in five minutes, I promise this time!

"Nori's coming as well?" I muttered as I exited from the message before I was shocked at the many missed calls and texts that I received from both my female friend and cousin. "Ai dios mio. I really need to remember these things." I sighed as I quickly placed my phone into my bag and grabbed a pair of blue shoes before I ran down the stairs. As I came near the kitchen I heard the voice of my cousin and a couple members of the Rikkaidai team talking among themselves happily. "Gomen! I forgot about today and thought I didn't have to wake up early. And I didn't hear my phone vibrate when you guys texted me. I'm sorry!" I apologized as I entered the kitchen nearly out of breath.

"What's the whole point of getting you a phone if you never look at it?" Akaya said as he finished his glass of orange juice that my grandmother must have given him…or he just got it himself. Next to him was Niou munching happily at his piece of cake. Seiichi and Bunta sat across them, Bunta eating his sweets with much vigor while Seiichi calmly took a sip of coffee.

"Shut up! I do look at it…sometimes." I grumbled as I sat down at the table and began putting my shoes on before Seiichi spoke up.

"Are you really going to go out like that?" I looked up at him curiously.

"What's wrong with my outfit?"

"You look like a guy."

"So?" Seiichi sighed at my stubbornness.

"It's your day off; you should dress up as a girl for once. I mean you're pretending to be a boy about 90% of the day, let your body relax and be your gender for one day." I pouted at him.

"But I'm comfortable in these clothes, besides all the clothes Baa-chan has for me is rather girly. Not my style."

"But what if we pass a Seigaku tennis member?" Bunta asked as he finished his fifth treat. "Wouldn't that blow your cover?"

"What are the odds of passing by one of them? I mean—"

"We already saw Tezuka on our way here, what's to say we wouldn't meet with others?" Niou pointed out.

"Besides, would it kill you to humor your cousin and dress femininely for once?" Seiichi smiled as he placed his cup down.

"YES IT WOULD!"

* * *

><p>"I'm not late am I?" A petite girl with short, but feminine, dark brown hair, panted as she reached our group standing outside of the Honda Bakery. "Mitsu-chan? Is that you?" My friend asked as she finally noticed my outfit.<p>

"Yes Nori-chan, and blame it on them." I growled as they chuckled at my misfortune.

"It's not that bad, Mitsu-chan!" Niou said as he patted my shoulder. "You look cute."

"I don't like being called cute." I muttered as I awkwardly held my light blue feminine blouse in my left hand. Seiichi and the others had stormed into my room to find an appropriate outfit for me to wear and after commenting on how messy it was, Seiichi found a blue blouse for me to wear along with Bermuda shorts to go with my shoes. (I was not going to let them make me wear flats.) Niou then decided to give me a more feminine hairstyle to go with the outfit (and not look like a boy) and now my longer strands of hair near the side of my head, were clipped back and Niou somehow managed to create a half pony-tail look with the top half of my hair and the rest flowed freely.

"But you do look nice Mitsu-chan!" Nori said, eye smiling at me. Nori wore a red t-shirt with a white jacket, jeans, and a pair of white tennis shoes. Oh how I envied her at the moment, I really wished I could wear my t-shirt and jeans.

"Nori-chan~!" Bunta shouted out smiling as he bounced towards my blushing friend as he called her name out. "I'm glad you're here! I wasn't going to come since Jackal wasn't coming but then I heard you were finally going to hang out with us and I had to come!" he smiled as he popped his bubblegum.

"Ah, um thanks. I missed seeing you too Bunta-san." She nervously said as she fidgeted blushing at the compliment. Niou and I shared a look and smiled. Ever since I had introduced Nori to my cousin and the Rikkaidai team, she became friends with them immediately and she and Bunta got along rather well. If Bunta wasn't with Jackal then he was with Nori or he talked about Nori if she wasn't there. Nori in turn would always blush whenever he was nearby or even talked to her. It became obvious to the tennis team and I that they had a crush on each other, but both of them were rather…they didn't….whenever we tease them about their crush on each other, they would respond with curious faces as if they didn't know what we were talking about. Nori was the smartest girl in her school and yet when it came to love she was rather…let's just say it needs some more skills.

"Nah, call me Bunta-kun Nori-chan!" Bunta said as he placed an arm over her shoulder and smiled cheekily at her.

"Well, I hate to interrupt your flirting" Akaya said to them as he tapped his foot impatiently, "But we're going to miss the movie if we wait here any longer."

"Wait, are we going to see X-men First Class?" I asked excitedly? I had heard Seigaku students talk about the movie a week ago and it seemed really exciting.

"If you want to see it then we'll see it." Seiichi smiled.

"But I wanted to see The Hunger Games!" Akaya complained, "The book was good and I want to see the movie!"

"Kirihara-kun don't you remember," Niou sighed dramatically as he ruffled Akaya's hair playfully. "This day is to celebrate Mitsu-chan making the Seigaku team, so we're going to do what she wants to do."

"Can we go to the arcade after the movies then?" I asked. It's been a while since I had been to one and if I could choose wherever I wanted to go, then I was going to take advantage of it.

"Yeah! I wanna go too! Let's go Buchou!" Akaya shouted along with me. The both of us looked at Seiichi with pleading eyes and he sighed giving in.

"Very well."

"Yes! Come on, let get going then!" I laughed as I started running down the street, eager to reach the movie theaters as quickly as possible. "Come on Nori-chan!"

"Wait for me!" she smiled as she took off after me.

"HEY WAIT UP!" the rest of the team shouted as they followed us, smiling.

* * *

><p>"That was the coolest movie ever!" I shouted as our group of six walked out of the movie theaters and made our way to the nearest arcade which conveniently happened to be a block over. "Did you like it Nori-chan?"<p>

"Yes, it was very interesting." She smiled as she walked beside me.

"I agree with Nori-chan too!" Bunta said as he bounced to Nori's side, "It was so cool! Man, Americans can make really good movies."

"Look there's the arcade!" Akaya suddenly shouted as we reached the end of the street and saw on the other side a store filled with games, food, and prizes.

"Now before we go I think we should—"

"PLAY!" Akaya, Nori, Bunta, and I shouted before we sprinted across the street (we looked out for cars first mind you) and ran inside the arcade before we could hear Seiichi yelling at us. Inside the arcade, the four of us gasped at the site of so many games and prizes that filled the rooms. The laughter and chattering of kids younger and our age, echoed throughout the room. The games glowed throughout the room, each inviting us to waste our money to play.

"Come on, let play!" I shouted over the noise, before I went to find a change machine to convert my money into coins. Once the four of us got our coins to play, we each went to different sections of the arcade and it wasn't until five games later that I realized that I was alone.

"Hm their lost." I said, as I went to look for a different game to play while stuffing my winning tickets into my bag. "Now where to? The DDR or the basket—hmp!" Without warning I had bumped into a person and fell on my butt due to the force.

"Huh? Oh I'm sorry I didn't see where I was going nya~" a familiar voice said I felt him pull me up. As I looked at the person who I bumped into, my words froze in my throat as I saw who it was. Immediately I looked away hoping he had not notice my eyes or even recognize me.

_N-nani! What's he doing here! And why did I have to run into him! What if the other members are here…what am I thinking, the rest of the team doesn't look like they would come here—_

"Eiji, what did I tell you about running off like that? You could have bumped into a person." I heard Oishi's voice as he came towards us.

_I was proven wrong. Could my day get any more complicated? Ok all I just have to do is just walk away, seems easy enough._

"Oishi! Look I made a new friend! Isn't she pretty!" Eiji smiled as he hugged me as I tried to get out of his hug.

"Thank you, but I have to be going. I'm meeting my—"

"What? I can't hear you?" Eiji shouted as the noise in the arcade in the room got louder. "Hey I have an idea, want to play with me and Oishi?" still not looking at them, fearing they would recognize me, I looked down and hoped they would pass it as a no since I was so shy.

"Eiji—"

"Oishi, she looks so lonely, no one should be lonely at an arcade! I thought you were the gentleman Oishi-kun! Leaving a pretty girl like her isn't like you." Eiji "sighed" as he looked over at a sputtering Oishi.

"No but—"

"Then it's decided!" Eiji smiled triumphantly as he grabbed my hand and Oishi's. "Let's go play some games." And he proceeded to drag us around the arcade despite Oishi's protest.

"Gomen," he said to me as I peaked under my eyelashes to see if he was looking at me. "Eiji can be a bit energetic at times, but he means well." I smiled weakly nodding.

_Someone help me please._

After thirty minutes of playing games with the Golden Pair, Eiji dragged us to a calmer part of the arcade to count up the tickets we had won.

"I got fifty tickets! What about you Oishi?"

"About seventy," he smiled as he showed the tickets to a pouting Eiji.

"Hmp! No fair, what about you hime-chan?" he asked me as I blushed at his nickname for me.

"Eighty." I whispered in a higher tone than my own voice praying that they wouldn't be able to recognize me.

"Why are you still sad then?" Eiji pouted as he noticed that I had not looked at any of them directly or look like I was having fun. (On the contrary I was having fun, but I had to make sure I didn't reveal my identity) "Didn't you have fun?" Quickly I nodded, still not speaking fearing Oishi or Eiji would make the connection between me and "Ryu". "Hmm…I know!" he smiled as he snapped his fingers as if he had thought up a brilliant idea. "You're probably too shy to smile! I can make you smile right now!" he took a step towards me, with his hands out in front of him. "Everyone smiles if they're tickled!" and before I knew it his fingers landed on my sides and began tickling me. I squirmed underneath his fingers, trying to get out before I laughed and they would surely find out that I was Ryu with my laugh.

I tried holding in my laughter as his fingers reached a rather ticklish spot on the left side of my stomach but I let out some giggles. After hearing my giggles, Eiji became more determined to make me laugh and focused more on my left side.

"See everyone smiles if they're tickled!" Eiji smiled as he continued his attack on my stomach.

"HEY, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO HER?" Akaya's voice shouted before I felt an arm pull me away from Eiji fingers and into Akaya's chest.

"I was only trying to make her smile." Eiji pouted as I quickly looked down to avoid any more glances from the Golden Pair.

"What kind of person tickles a girl to make her smile? Are you trying to harass her?" he asked as he got in front of me protectively. I frowned at the gesture, while I did appreciate his kind act; I wasn't a person who needed protecting. One, I could take care of myself, and two, he was younger than me. I was supposed to be protecting him not the other way around.

"Hey, you look familiar." Eiji suddenly said as he switched topics. "Did we see you somewhere before?"

"What do you mean by that!" Akaya shouted at Eiji would did not pay attention to him as he asked Oishi,

"He looks familiar doesn't he? Do you remember where we met him?"

"HEY PAY ATTENTION WHEN SOMEONE'S TALKING TO YOU?"

"Ah gomen, we don't mean to—"

"I know, he's a Seigaku student!" Eiji exclaimed as he snapped his fingers. "Aren't you!"

"What! I don't even go to your school! I shouldn't be surprised at your forgetfulness though since you can't even remember her—" before he revealed too much, I slapped my hand over his mouth to prevent him from talking any further.

"Huh? You go to Seigaku? Why haven't I seen you before?" Eiji asked as he looked at me and I began sweating bullets.

_Damn you Akaya for speaking too much! How am I going to get out of this one? I could use some help—_

"Mitsu-chan?" Nori's voice echoed behind us. Akaya and I turned around to see Nori standing there with a curious face. Quickly I mouthed to her 'Seigaku tennis members, help' and she nodded as she walked next to us. "I've been looking for you guys. It's time for lunch. I'm sorry but we have to go now." Nori said as she nodded to me and I proceeded to drag Akaya away from the Seigaku doubles, before he could cause any more trouble, by the ear.

"Ow! OW! Sempai that hurts!" he shouted as we speedily left the tennis members behind with Nori who quickly joined us after a couple of seconds.

"You idiot!" I whispered harshly into his ear as we reached the rest of the group who looked at us curiously, "YOU could have revealed my identity to them!"

"You don't have to pull on my ear so hard though Sempai!" he snapped as he pulled himself out of my grip and glared at me. "It wasn't my fault that you needed to be saved!"

"Saved! I was doing fine on my own! And I don't need any saving; I can take care of myself thank you very much!" I growled at him, glaring straight back at him.

"Um Mitsu-chan—"

"And then you had to make Nori-chan come and save our butt! What kind of jerk does that?"

"Shut up! All of this could have been avoided if you didn't go and play with them!"

"Um Kirihara-kun—"

"I bumped into them and they dragged me! What was I supposed to do?"

"Do you guys just want to eat while they finish fighting?"

"SAY NO LIKE A NORMAL PERSON WOULD!"

"Sure, Yukimura-san. I believe they'll be fighting for quite some time."

"SHUT UP! DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"

"Should we have some burgers? I think I saw a burger joint just across the street before we came here"

"I WOULDN'T HAVE TO IF YOU USED YOUR MIND FOR ONCE!"

"Great idea Bunta-sa—Bunta-kun. Let's go. Hey Mitsu-chan we're going to eat now. We'll be across the street if you need us."

"THAT'S RICH COMING FROM YOU!"

"Let's go, five bucks says they'll notice we're gone in about five minutes."

"HEY THAT WAS ONLY ONCE!"

"SO IT STILL PROVES I'M RIGHT!"

"ABOUT WHAT?"

"I DON'T KNOW! YOU STARTED THIS ARGUMENT!"

"DID NOT!"

"DID SO!"

"DID NOT!"

"YOU SO TOTALLY DID—hey where did they go?" I asked him as I finally took notice of our missing group.

"They said they went to eat since we were taking too long to finish our petty argument…"Akaya read from his phone as he glared at the sender. "Niou-sempai…"

"See! Look at what you did!" I shouted as I walked out of the arcade to the burger joint that they were most likely at. "Now, we'll have to wait in a longer line to get out food!"

"My fault! It's yours!"

* * *

><p>"Thank you for this wonderful day out!" I smiled as I hugged each tennis member as we reached the front of my house. "I had so much fun even though my cover was nearly blown by Aya-chan." I eyed smiled at him causing him to flinch.<p>

"Hey, we don't want to start another fight. One is enough for today." Seiichi smiled as he patted my shoulder. "Now, take care of yourself Mitsu-chan. The regional's are coming up and I don't want you to over-do it."

"Wait regional's are coming up?" Nori-chan spoke up as she finished slurping her soda. "Is it on the same day that Rikkaidai has their regional tournament?"

"I think so." I told her as I saw her face fall.

"N-nani! B-but I can only visit one and I told my dad that I would go to Rikkaidai's match first…"

"It's fine," I told her, "I'll have other matches that you can go to. We won't lose in the first round." I smirked.

"You better not! We want to see you at nationals!" Akaya smiled as he ruffled my hair, letting my hair go back to its original state.

"Ay naku" Nori-chan exclaimed as she looked at the time on her cell phone. "I really need to head back; otherwise I won't be able to visit you guys at your games."

"We'll walk you home!" Bunta smiled, "Well, bye Mitsu-chan! Take care of yourself!" he said as he gave me a hug and a quick peck on the cheek.

"Bye Mitsu-chan!" Nori shouted happily as she gave me a bear hug. "I'll keep in contact and do your best at the tournament!" I smiled brightly at her.

"Don't worry, I'll give it all I got."

"We'll take our leave as well." Seiichi smiled as he approached me. "Bye Mitsu-chan. Be safe."

"What buchou said." Akaya muttered as he gave me a hug and quickly went to join Bunta and Nori.

"Bye Mitsu-chan, make sure to keep your identity a secret 'til we see you at nationals!" Niou winked at me as he and Seiichi calmly walked behind the three energetic middle schoolers.

"Bye." I mumbled, waving good-bye to their disappearing forms before I went inside the bakery, passing all the customers inside buying all the sweet goods my grandma made this morning, and went up the stairs to my room. Dropping my bag to the floor, I took off my shoes, my hair tie, and fell onto my bed sighing in content.

_Only if I could spend more days like this with the rest of the Rikkaidai team and Nori-chan, life would be so….complete._ With the memories of my day still fresh in my mind, I fell asleep with a smile on my face despite my body being so tired.

* * *

><p>"Mitsu-chan, wake up." My grandma said shaking me awake from my slumber.<p>

"Hmm…Baa-chan?"

"Come down and eat some breakfast before your game." She said as she got up from my bed and headed towards the door. "I don't want you to eat in a hurry, it's bad for you and I also know how long it takes for you to get ready."

"That's because of the bandages I put on." I groaned as I wormed my way out of my warm covers. "Other than that, I don't take very long."

"Sure, sure." She chuckled as she left my door wide open, "Just come down when you're done changing."

"Hai." I mumbled as I sat at the edge of my bed, trying to wipe the sleep out of my eyes as my grandma disappeared down the stairs. After yawning, I grabbed a roll of bandages near my bed and my school uniform and slowly made my way to the bathroom to change. After fifteen minutes, I emerged from the bathroom wearing my uniform properly and my hair was now tamed…to an extent. Short hair tends to not obey you when you want it to, but I guess it didn't matter since I was a guy now and from what I heard, guys don't really care about their hair that much so I was fine. Going back to my room, I grabbed my backpack, neatly stuffed my tennis jersey into my tennis bag (after checking I had my racket in there), placed a towel inside it as well, before I grabbed the strap and pulled it over my shoulder. I made my way down the steps and I smiled as I smelled the sweet aroma of baked goods.

"Are you excited for today's juego?" Baa-chan asked as she placed toast with jam in front of me with a mug of hot tea.

"Hai, it'll be my first official match. I can't wait." I munched happily on the toast while taking a sip of the tea once in a while.

"Good luck then mija." She smiled before the chime of the door for the store rang indicating we had a customer. "Oh, looks like I'll be busy for a while. Be careful on your way to the park," she said as she gave me a peck on the cheek before she rushed out to the front. Seconds later she came back and said, "And call me if you need anything. Bye mija and have a wonderful day! Ojii-san wishes you the best of luck as well. He might drive by your game later on if he doesn't take too long to deliver today's birthday cakes."

"OK," I said as I took another sip at the tea. "Ciao Baa-chan." As soon as she left, I quickly finished the rest of my meal and placed my plate and mug in the sink. Racing up the stairs, I quickly made my way to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, brushed my hair at a final attempt to tame it, before I raced back down and exited the house with all my bags. "Regional's here I come."

* * *

><p>"Neh, Ryu-chan are you excited for today?" Eiji exclaimed as he bounced next to me, smiling as we walked towards the courts. Adjusting my tennis jacket and my tennis bag strap, I turned to smile at Eiji.<p>

"Hai, it's my first official tournament I've participated in. I'm looking forward to this."

"Really?" Shusuke asked as he walked beside me. "I would have thought you would have at least participated in one at least."

"No, being homeschooled kind of makes you miss tournament registration dates." I chuckled sheepishly as I looked around the Shikinomori Sport's park. I was amazed at the number of schools participating in this tournament, the different colors of each school made the park look more colorful than it usually was. "There's a lot of schools here." I said.

"Hai! But luckily we don't have to play all of them since were the number one seeded school." Eiji said as he placed his arms behind his head. "Oh and you look good in that uniform Ryu-chan! Blue suits you~" Eiji smiled cheekily at me as the three of us followed the rest of the team to our assigned courts.

"Ah, thank you I suppose." I chuckled, getting accustomed to his comments. "So what's the line up for today's match?" I asked as we reached our bench and the rest of the team began taking out their rackets and items for our team match.

"Fuji, you'll be playing number one singles, Kawamura you're number two and Kaido you're number three. Oishi and Eiji, you're playing doubles one. Momoshiro and Echizen will be playing doubles two." Many of us looked up when Tezuka finished announcing the lineup.

"Chibi-chan and Momo-chan…doubles?" Eiji said, sounding surprised. "I thought for sure they would want to play for singles."

"They volunteered to be doubles." Tezuka merely said as he took a seat on the bench. "We're just experimenting until we can find another solid doubles team."

"That would make sense, but…" I looked at Momo and Ryoma who were already yelling at each other for petty things, "Somehow, I don't think they'll be a permanent doubles team."

"Nya Ryu-chan, have some faith in them."

"Eiji, we have to go on the courts now." Oishi said as we saw the other school line up at the courts.

"Hai! Well, wish us luck Ryu-chan!"

"You're not even playing yet." I chuckled as they raced onto the courts. "Um Tezuka can I sit here?" I asked him as we were the only ones at the bench besides Coach Ryuzaki

"Sure."

"Honda," Coach Ryuzaki said as I took my seat, "Is this your first tournament?"

"Hai, it's very exciting." I smiled at her, "I just hope to play at least one match today, so it can be more memorable."

"We might have you play in the final round," Tezuka said, keeping his eye on the tennis players on the courts who stood staring at each other. "Is that fine with you?" I instantly smiled at him, excited to finally play an official match even though it was the last one.

"Hai! Thank you for the opportunity. I promise I won't let the team down!" Today couldn't get any better; nothing could go wrong…at least that's what I thought.

* * *

><p>"Neh, Ryu-chan so what did you think?" Eiji smiled as we finished eating our lunch as Seigaku won another round.<p>

The matches were interesting, not as much as Rikkaidai's matches, but interesting nonetheless. Seigaku won each match with six-love with the exception of Ryoma's and Momoshiro's match. Just as I thought in the beginning, they weren't suited for doubles and lost two games because of that (In the end the score was six-two) and it was a bit funny to see Coach Ryuzaki punish them for causing her to worry about the match. Other than that, the rest of the tournament went by smoothly and before we knew it, lunch had come and we were going to play our final round next.

"About what?" I chuckled at Eiji's carefree behavior.

"About the tournament? Do you like it so far?"

"Yes," I smiled at him as I went to throw away my trash, "It's very exciting. And Tezuka said I might play this next round."

"That's great news!" Eiji smiled as he went to hug me. "Right Oishi, Fuji?" he asked the two tennis players who chuckled at me.

"Hai, it is. I wish you well in the upcoming match then." Shusuke said, smiling at me.

"Hey, who are we playing against anyways?" Eiji asked, sparking my curiosity as well.

"Huh…I don't know—"

"What? Kakinoki Junior High school lost?" Momoshiro's voice rang out as he shouted to the trio freshmen who had come to the match to support our team. "That's not right; they were the runner-up last year!"

"It's true Momo-chan sempai!" Horio cried out, gaining the rest of the team's attention. "It's written on the board!" The other two nodded in confirmation.

"So, who are we meeting in the final?" Oishi asked the freshmen.

"Fudomine Junior High" Mizuno answered.

"They were unseeded." Kato added as well.

"Fudomine Junior High? The same Fudomine that had to withdraw last year?" Kawamura asked aloud.

"Withdraw?" I asked, curious now to why they had to withdraw last year if they made it to the finals this year. "Why did they withdraw?"

"We don't know actually." Eiji replied, "We never really found out."

"I went to scout out Fudomine's match," Inui said as he came towards us with his notebook in hand, "They are a completely different Fudomine from last year. All the members are new regulars with the exception of the third year captain, Tachibana Keppei, who is their key factor for the team's success." Inui explained to the team. "And on a side note, the six unknown second year members beat Kakinoki in straight sets." We all stayed silent, taking in the new information of our next opponent who seemed to be incredibly strong despite being unseeded.

"The final…doesn't seem to be easy." Shusuke said after a while.

"But if it's Seigaku there should be no problem against a beginner!" Horio shouted out, "We'll crush them and win the tournament!"

"But Horio-kun—"

"Just let me talk for a moment!" Horio said as he brushed off Mizuno's warning. What Horio could not see was the Fudomine's tennis team walking straight towards us and with Horio's loud voice…I pray that Fudomine won't take it as an insult. "Seigaku can't lose to unseeded, unknown players!" Horio continued.

"Hey listen to me!" Mizuno pleaded with Horio as he shook his shoulder,

"What is it!" Horio snapped before he finally took notice of the Fudomine tennis team right behind him. "Fudomine?" he whimpered, scared beyond belief. Standing straight, we stared at Fudomine's tennis team as they stared back at us. For a while, the air was high with tensions and it seemed at any moment a fight could break out. However, before the tensions could get too high, the Fudomine's tennis player in the front with black cropped hair spoke up.

"Are you Tezuka from Seigaku?" he asked our captain.

"That's right," Tezuka replied without missing a beat.

"I am captain Tachibana from Fudomine." He said as he raised his right hand for a handshake. Tezuka, without saying a word, shook hands with him, ceasing all tensions in the air. "Let's have a good match."

"Sure."

_Well, at least a fight didn't break out._ I thought as I saw the Fudomine team leave. However, their last member caught my attention when I noticed him bouncing the ball on the frame of his racket instead of the string part.

_Huh…I didn't think anyone else could do that…but then again I only knew a few people who could play tennis very well so I should expect to see other tennis players who are just as good as the Rikkaidai members…Well what do you know. _ I smiled as I saw them pass Ryoma who was bouncing a ball on his racket frame as well, sitting down on a bench and drinking a Ponta. _Our little Ryoma has a new rival now._

"After playing doubles and sitting out as a substitute, he's got a lot of stress bottled up." Inui said as he took notice of Ryoma. A couple more seconds passed as the Fudomine team stared at Ryoma before they walked off.

"Everyone gather around!" Coach Ryuzaki's voiced rang out as she called out to us.

"Hai!" We said in union as we walked over to the tennis courts where she was waiting patiently.

"Understand this, we'll face Fudomine in the finals and they're nothing like the opponents we've been facing."

"Hai!"

"It's final, Doubles two: Fuji and Honda. Go get the first win." I nodded at her as I looked over at Shusuke with a smile.

"Looks like I'll be playing with you Shusuke-kun."

"I'm looking forward to it." He said smiling at me.

"Doubles one: Oishi and Kikumaru, Singles three: Kaido. Singles two: Ryoma, and singles one: Tezuka." Coach Ryuzaki finished listing the line up and I heard cheers from the freshmen congratulating me and Ryoma.

"Finally, it's Echizen's singles debut!"

"And Honda-sempai gets to play as well! Do your best Honda-sempai!" Kato and Mizuno cheered as we headed towards the courts for our final match of the tournament.

"Let's do our best alright!" Eiji smiled as we reached the courts. "And good luck Fuji and Ryu-chan! Go get them!" he said as he and the rest of the team took their spots on the benches.

"Hai!"

* * *

><p>"One set match, Fudomine's Sakurai to serve!" the umpire called out as Fudomine took their position on the courts. Standing at the baseline, I watched as the Fudomine tennis player bounced the ball up and down before he threw it into the air and served the ball just before it reached his head.<p>

_And the match begins!_ I thought as I rushed towards the ball and forehanded the ball cross-court, deep into the left hand corner of the ally. However, the baseliner quickly raced towards the ball and back handed the ball towards Shusuke who returned it down the line passing the white bandana Fudomine player at the net.

"Sakurai!" he cried to his partner as it passed by him. Sakurai quickly raced towards the ball and unexpectedly shot the ball back down the line, passing me and Shusuke. The both of us stared at the ball with shock as it passed us.

"Fifteen-love."

"Ah gomen, Shusuke." I apologized to my doubles partner, "I should have gotten that."

"It's ok, it's partially my fault as well."

"Let's get the next point then." I smiled as I went up to the net and got into a ready position. I was not going to let another ball pass me this time. Fudomine served the ball and Shusuke quickly backhanded the ball towards the middle. However, the white bandana player poached the ball and sent it towards my side at an alarming speed.

_Oh no, I'm not going to let you get another score._ I thought as I volleyed the ball to the right ally where Sakurai failed to get the ball in time.

"Fifteen all."

"Nicely done, Ryu-kun" Shusuke smiled as he held out his racket for me to hit lightly.

"Thanks, now it's time for our comeback." I said as I went back to the baseline and jumped up and down lightly so I could run at any direction. However, the rest of the match did not go as I thought it would and before I knew it, Shusuke and I were struggling to stay ahead. Even though we were ahead by two games we could not let them get any more. We needed to do something if we were going to win this match and we would have to do it soon.

"Ryu-kun!" Shusuke said as the ball passed by him and was headed straight for the ally.

"I got it Shusuke-kun!" I growled out as I decided to use my signature move.

_This is it, _I thought as I got my body into position for **Jiguzagu**, _This is where we make our stand. Fudomine this is where you meet your end._ Once the ball was within hitting distance, I swung my right arm forward and placed a heavy spin on the ball.

"Take this," I muttered as I stared at the ball as it passed the white bandana vollyer at the net and straight to the ally. "My signature move Fudomine."

"Sakurai!" the vollyer cried out to his partner as it passed him.

"I got it!" he said as he ran towards the ball and prepared to hit the ball once it bounced…that's if it was a normal bounce.

"Got ya." I smirked as I watched the shocked faces of both players on the team and the Fudomine players on the bench as they saw the ball bounce to the right sharply, a hit that was unreachable.

"N-nani?"

"What was that?"

"My own move that I personally came up with on my own." I smiled as Shusuke gave me a high five. "Let's show them Seigaku's real strength Shusuke."

"Hm. Let's."

After that shot, Fudomine made sure not many of the balls went towards me and hit them towards Shusuke instead.

"Shusuke-kun!" I shouted as a ball passed me at the net once again preventing me to use **Jiguzagu**,

"Don't worry Ryu-kun, leave it to me." He smiled at me before he opened his eyes to reveal his blue eyes that were in a serious expression. "You're not the only one with a special move up his sleeve." As the ball came closer, Shusuke swung his right arm forward and twisted his wrist almost 90 degrees so that his racket was almost flat. He swung downwards on the ball, slicing it, giving it a larger spin on the ball and it flew pass the volleyer. But once it landed, I could not help but gasp as the ball rolled on the ground instead of bouncing.

_Is that…what I think it is? __**The Swallow Return**__? I heard Seiichi and Genichiro talking about it last year when they said they played against Seigaku before. I didn't really believe a ball could be return without a bounce but…I guess I was proven wrong. Now…it's time for us to win. _I smiled at Shusuke as we continued rallying with our opponents confident that we could now win. If they hit it towards Shusuke, they would face his **Swallow Return** and they hit it towards me, I would return it with my **Jiguzagu**. We had the upper hand and nothing could stop us now.

"Yatta!" I smiled happily as we reached breaking point after forty minutes of playing tennis with them. "Shusuke-kun, let's finish this game strong." He smiled and nodded at me.

_This next point is rather important._ I thought to myself as I positioned myself at the baseline, _if we can take the next point, it'll be my turn to serve and I can use my __**Twist Serve**__ to win the next game it'll be our win. Huh? What's he doing? _ I wondered as I saw the white bandana player looked at the Fudomine captain as he held his right arm in a 90 degree position, almost flexing his arm. _What's he planning? I guess I should keep an eye out for him; I don't want him to catch us off guard and cause us to lose this point. _ We continued to rally and the bandana player kept looking at the captain as if he was waiting for a signal. After a few minutes of rallying, I saw from the corner of my eye, Tachibana lift a finger and the bandana player smirked as he pulled his right arm back and prepared himself for a forehand hit.

"Go Ishida!"

"Hadoukyuu!" His teammates shouted out as the ball flew towards him. Before I could ponder what was Hadoukyuu was, I saw the Fudomine player flex his muscular arms causing nerves to pop out and made his arm appear more muscular than ever. Then with a battle cry, the swung his arm forward with all his might hitting the ball, but the ball stayed on his racket for a few seconds gathering more speed and power that once he finished his swing the ball came rushing towards Shusuke like a mini torpedo.

_Kuso!_ I thought as I unconsciously ran forward. _That move is no ordinary hit, if Shusuke hits the ball, it would surely injure his wrist due to the power behind it. I don't think he has ever taken a hit that strong before…I have to…I have to use my other move then if I don't want Shusuke to injure his wrist._

"Don't do it Fuji!" I heard Oishi cry out as I saw Shusuke prepare himself to take the hit.

"Your wrist can't handle it!" Inui added.

"They're right Shusuke!" I said as I got in front of him, surprising him and the rest of the team. "I won't let you injure yourself, not if I can help it."

"Ryu!" As the ball came closer, I pulled my right arm back so quickly that you could hear my shoulder cracked twice and waited for the ball.

"**RIFLE!**" I shouted as I swung my arm forward and made contact with the ball with my racket.

_Damn, this hit was more powerful than I originally thought it was,_ I thought as I poured all my strength into my right arm just so I wouldn't let go of my racket, _But I can't give up! I won't give up! LOSING IS UNACCEPTABLE! _

"It'll take more than that just to stop me!" I shouted as I used my left hand to get a tighter grip on the racket as I began to swing forward. With a loud battle cry, I swung my racket forward and the ball left my racket with a loud bang as if it was shot from a rifle and sped towards the bandana player.

"No way, he returned it!"

"Ishida!" Sakurai shouted to his partner as he once again pumped his arm up for another Hadoukyuu.

"Stop it Ishida, your arm will—"

"He won't hit it." I panted lightly as the ball burned into the fence behind the Fudomine team surprising everyone with the speed the ball had. "You should know, a bullet cannot be seen with the human eyes."

"No way…we didn't even see the ball bounce"

"But there's a burn mark on the court." Sakurai said pointing to the smoking hole right in front of Ishida where the ball landed before it shot past him and hit the fence behind him. The crowd cheered at our win and I smiled at Shusuke.

"Just one more game huh—what are you doing?" I asked as Shusuke suddenly grabbed my wrist sending jolts of pain up my arm, but I did not show any pain on my face. "Is something wrong?" his blue eyes stared back at my own as he tried to see any indications of pain.

"You took the hit for me…are you sure your wrist is ok?" I chuckled at him as I took my wrist out of his hand, ignoring the throbbing pain that erupted from it.

"Hai, Shusuke-kun. It's fine."

"Honda to serve." The umpire called out as I grabbed a couple of balls and placed two in my pocket and bounced the other as I walked towards the baseline to serve. Shusuke stared at me for a while longer before he went to the net waiting for me to serve. Not wanting to keep him waiting I threw the ball into the air and as it came back down, I swung my racket against the ball, twisting my wrist a little more to give the ball a better spin. However, the small twist sent more pain up my arm causing me to wince a little; luckily no one saw. As the ball raced towards Sakurai, it bounced on the floor before it shot straight at his face, nearly hitting him as it flew past him.

"F-fifteen-love"

"W-what? What kind of serve was that?" Ishida asked as he saw his partner panting lightly.

"Ah! There's Honda-sempai's **Twist Serve!**" I heard the freshmen cry out.

"With that, we can't lose this game! It's Seigaku's game for sure!"

_I'm glad I saved this serve for last, but¸_ I bounced the ball once again ready to use the **Twist Serve** once more before grabbing it and throwing it into the air. _I don't know how much longer my wrist can handle it….no I can't think like that! This is the first game, the most crucial game in this match, we must win! Just ignore the pain for now Mitsu, once this game is over, then you can go and treat it._ Just as it came within hitting distance, I placed a counter spin on the ball again sending another **Twist Serve** at them.

"Thirty-love."

"Forty-love"

"One more serve and it's Seigaku's win!" I heard Horio's voice shout out from the stands as I painfully bounced the ball once again.

"Ryu-kun, are you sure your wrist is alright?" Shusuke asked me before I threw the ball up again. I gave him an eye smile to hide the pain that would surely show in my eyes.

"You worry too much Shusuke-kun, besides this is match point, one more point and we win. We should be concentrating on this last point." I said as I began bouncing the ball again trying to ignore the pain that was becoming harder to ignore. He said nothing as he went back to the net but I could tell he knew I was hiding something.

_I can't let the pain stop me now, not when we're so close to winning. _I threw the ball high into the air and waited for it to come down, _I can't let Seigaku down. Not now, not ever! _As the ball was within hitting distance, I swung my arm forward and twisted my wrist once again to place a counter spin on the ball; however, the pain became too much at that point and I cried out in agony as the ball flew over the net with no spin, making it a regular serve. Ishida saw this opportunity and ran forward hitting the ball straight towards me and I could only watch as the ball passed by me, giving them a point.

"F-forty-fifteen"

"Ryu-kun!" Shusuke said as he ran towards me.

"I'm fine Shusuke-kun." I said giving him a pained smiled as I went to grab my tennis racket that I had let go when the pain in my wrist became too much. "It's nothing really—ay! That hurts!" I winced as Shusuke grabbed my injured wrist.

"You were hiding this pain this whole time…it must have hurt a lot." Shusuke said as he looked into my eyes and I couldn't help but look away.

"It's fine really Shusuke-kun. A little—wince—pain won't stop me—hng" I groaned as another jolt of pain rode up my arm.

"Referee, we will forfeit this match." Shusuke suddenly said earning a gasp from me.

"N-nani! Shusuke-kun! What are you saying? We don't have to forfeit, I can still play! Winning this game is important for the team, we can't just forfeit when we're just one point away from winning!" Shusuke smiled at me as he took my racket away from my injured wrist and in a calm voice said,

"It's going to be alright Ryu-kun. I would rather lose this game than risk injuring your wrist even further and prevent you from playing tennis again. I'm sure the tennis team agrees as well.' I looked behind him and sure enough, the team was nodding at Shusuke words.

"But the game—"

"It's alright Ryu-kun. Winning isn't worth it if you get injured in the process."

_Winning isn't…but at Rikkaidai losing is unacceptable. I've grown accustomed to that…I've seen Akaya play against Seiichi even though he was injured…I've seen all of them do that and they didn't even bother to forfeit the match because of that…but here at Seigaku….it's as if my world's been twisted…maybe…maybe winning isn't everything...but…losing is unacceptable either…right?_

"Gomen, Shusuke…everyone." I sighed sadly as I placed my head down in shame.

"It's fine Ryu-kun," he said as he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, "Now let's go get that wrist checked out."

"Ay, duele mucho!" I groaned in broken Spanish as Inui sprayed some cool down spray on my right wrist.

"I don't know what you're saying, but take it in like a man."

_I'm not a man, so therefore I do have the right to whine._

"You should go to the hospital just for precaution. There might be a crack in the bone."

"Thank you Inui-san." I said as I cradled my wrist to prevent myself from injuring it any further, "And I'm sorry for causing us to lose the first game."

"We already told you, it's fine Ryu-kun." Shusuke said as he placed my tennis jacket over my shoulders. "Don't worry about it so much. Just make sure your wrist isn't injured that badly."

"It'll take more than a hit like that to injure my wrist to a point where I can't use it Shusuke-kun." I smiled softly at him, "But thanks for stopping me before anything else could happen."

"That's what friends are for." He smiled at me.

* * *

><p>"You got injured while returning a ball? That's impossible." The doctor treating my wrist laughed as he wrapped bandages around my right wrist. Luckily the doctor said that I hadn't injured my wrist too much and recommended that I take tennis lightly for the next few days.<p>

"But it's the truth." I argued but the doctor shrugged it off.

"There all done," he said as he finished wrapping my wrist with bandages similar to my chest ones, "stay and rest here for a while. When you think you're ready you can leave." I thanked the doctor and went to sit at an unoccupied chair near the lobby and sat down.

"Honda-sempai is your injury ok?" a Seigaku tennis club member asked as he and another second year went to check up on me. I smiled at them.

"Hai, the doctor said not to do any heavy lifting and take things lightly during practice. No broken bone or anything."

"That's good news! We'll go tell the tennis team right away."

"Ok, I'll be here for a while longer on doctor's orders. Hopefully I'll be there by the time Ryoma's match starts." I said as the second years left me to rest. Before I had any time to think about the game, my jacket pocket suddenly vibrated reminding me that I had left my phone in my jacket before I left to play. I took out my phone and smiled softly at the name appearing on the screen.

"Hello Aya-chan, any reason for you to be calling me?" I chuckled as I leaned back on the chair.

"Mitsu-sempai! Stop calling me that already." I laughed into the phone; getting Akaya riled up was rather easy and fun.

"Fine, fine Aya-kun. But seriously what's the reason for calling me?"

"I called to tell you that we already finished our regional tournament and—hey it's my phone! Give it back—"

"We wanted to know how's it's going on your end." Bunta's voice filled the speakers and you could hear Akaya arguing with him in the background, "And since you're answering the phone, I'm guessing you're done with your game. How did you do? Did you play any matches? Did you show them your awesome power?"

"One question at a time. Sheesh," I chuckled. "Well…no we're not done playing our matches just yet. We're on our final round against Fudomine."

"Fudomine?" Renji's voice echoed in the background of the Rikkaidai team. "I thought Seigaku would be playing against Kakinoki Junior high as it does every year."

"Inui-san told us it was because they had new members and a new captain this year. They're rather good actually; Shusuke and I had trouble with their doubles two."

"Oh you played doubles two? How did it go?" Seiichi's calm voice entered the conversation as well.

"Well…we had to forfeit due to…a wrist injury that…."

"That what Mitsu-chan?" Niou's voice asked. I was beginning to think that I was put on speaker.

"That I received." I sighed as I prepared myself for a barrage of questions.

"What!"

"How's your wrist?"

"It's not that bad is it?"

"How did you get injured?"

"You forfeited because of your wrist?"

"Shut up for a moment and I'll try to answer your questions." I sighed, "There was this player, Ishida if I remember correctly, who used a powerful hit that I took for Shusuke since I figured that since I played with you guys often I would be able to take the hit with no problem. However, I forgot that my right arm wasn't as strong as my left and the hit injured my wrist. I made it a bit worse when I continued to play since it was the last match, five-three, and I couldn't just let us lose when we were so close to winning. So I used my **Twist Serve** three times before I couldn't take the pain anymore and yeah Shusuke decided to forfeit the match. So I'm at hospital now and the good news is that the doctor says it isn't that serious. I just have to take tennis a bit lightly for a while and not carry anything heavy with my right hand."

"Seriously, he made you forfeit that match just because you couldn't take the pain?" Akaya's voice sounded annoyed at the other end of the phone. "That's lame! So you lost your first match, that's disappointing—"

"Aya-kun don't say anything else otherwise I'll kick your ass when I see you again." I growled out.

"Tennis wise because if you lost—"

"AYA-CHAN!"

"Hey—wait a moment—I'm not done taking yet—"

"Ah gomen Mitsu-chan but it seems we're going to have to call you later," Bunta's voice struggled to overcome's Akaya's loud voice.

"Bye Mitsu-chan! Take it easy on your wrist then—"

"Huh? Bye?" I muttered as the phone call was suddenly cut.

"Oi, Honda-sempai! Are you in here?" I heard Momoshiro's voice echo through the halls of the hospital.

"Hai Momo-chan. Did you need anything?" I asked as he quickly located my voiced and walked over to my position.

"Nah, I just wanted to see how you're doing." He smiled cheekily at me.

"Well, I'm doing fine Momo-chan, wait aren't you supposed to be at the benches watching the game? Speaking of games how are we doing? Did we win?"

"Eh….hey wanna go and watch the final game?" Momoshiro asked quickly, changing the subject. Before I could answer, he grabbed my left wrist and dragged me towards the entrance. "Let's go and watch it before it ends!" chuckling at his behavior I quickly ran behind him, not wanting to be left behind.

"Who's playing?"

"Echizen and Shinji. It should be a good match since it will be our championship match. Oh and Honda-sempai?"

"Hmm? What is it?" I asked as Momoshiro slowed his pace down to match mine.

"I was wondering…how did you take that hit with your **Rifle** shot?"

"Oh that. Well…it's rather complicated but in simple terms, I swing my arm back really fast causing my shoulder to crack at least twice—"

"Nani! Doesn't that hurt?"

"No, not really actually. My shoulder cracks very easy and it's not painful, it actually relaxes my muscles. From there I have two options, I can either use my relaxed muscles to take the force of a very powerful hit like today, or I can use my relaxed muscles to build up power quickly and use it to make my hit more powerful, but when I swing for either options it'll cause the ball to bounce off my racket with a loud bang and just as you saw in my game, it's hard to even see the hit let alone hit it. It reminds me of a rifle because of the two cracks you hear before the big bang so that's why I call it **Rifle**."

"Huh…now that you mention it, it did sound like a rifle." Momoshiro muttered as we began to speed up our jog. "Either way it's amazing how you took that hit though! You don't look like the type to take or perform power hits."

"Haha, true. I don't have the physical arm muscles as you and Taka-san have, but I do have my power moments." I chuckled. While I could take the Hadoukyuu perhaps twice, that was my limit for using **Rifle **as a power absorber. There's only so much power my arm can take since I don't have the muscle capability like a boy. But I was fairly confident that I was probably the most powerful girl player out there since I had a bit more muscles than girls did.

Huh…?" Momoshiro wondered aloud as we reached the stadium and heard concerned whispers coming from the crowd. "What's going on?" We came to a momentarily stop, trying to decipher what they were saying but to no avail.

"Let's get going." I said growing concern as to what had happened to cause everyone to mutter worryingly.

"Right." Momoshiro said as we continue to run back to our bench. However as we reached our bench at the tennis courts…what we saw….was something that shocked both of us.

"Ryoma-kun!"

* * *

><p><strong>And finite! How do you guys like it so far? Good, bad? Is there anything I would need to work on? Feedback would be wonderful. It makes my day; it really does along with favorites and story alerts. I once again apologize if there are any mistakes that I've missed, with 37 pages to revise…there's always going to be a few that miss my eye. I do hope that I wrote most of the characters in character and if not I apologize, I'm still working on that. <strong>

**And also, for future reference, I might change some of the matches so that my character will play instead of the original Seigaku player (For example, in this chapter I replaced Kawamura with my character when he plays doubles two with Fuji against Fudomine) because it's easier to incorporate her into matches without having to create OCs for her to play against and if did create OCs then I would have to make the tournament six games instead of five—basically, it's easier like this. So I'm sorry if this upsets anyone. But thank you for everyone that has read my story, I really do appreciate it. And I'll hopefully be able to update more often, but…no guarantee.**

**Author's Note: If you have noticed, yes I'm using American currency and that's because I'm a bit lazy to try and convert U.S dollars into japanese money not to mention I don't know how pricey things are over there so to be safe, I'm sticking to U.S dollars.**

***** **Ay naku: It's papango…or is it tagalo (I probably spelled it wrong "OTL)….damn I forgot, but know that it's a Philippines dialect (Any Filipino readers out there mind helping out?) that means, oh my goodness or close to that. My friend is Filipino so I do hear some words from her once in a while and yup. ^_^**

**Mitsu/Ryu's Tennis Moves:**

**Jiguzagu: ****A crosscourt hit that when bounces it goes the opposite direction and makes a zigzag (it's more noticeable when she uses her left hand to perform it, and the ball actually zigzags as it goes crosscourt.) and most people can't return it.**

**Ninja Slice:**** A slice that resembles a slicing motion a ninja does when he or she uses a sword. It's a strong backhand slice that bounces back towards the net. (With her left hand, if Mitsu wishes, she can actually slice the ball in half, but that has only happened about five times in total. Other than that, with her left hand, the slice is greater.)**

**Twist Serve: ****Basically a stronger version of Ryoma's own Twist Serve. She can actually perform it with her left hand, but it's not as strong so she doesn't use it.**

**Rifle:**** A forehand hit that can be used for two purposes, to either take the blunt of the hit and/or return it with a lot of power and speed that when the ball bounces off the racket, it leaves it with a loud bang. She must pull her arm back quickly otherwise she won't crack her shoulder and won't relax her muscles in order to pull off the move. With her left hand, the move is more powerful and quicker than her if she used it with her right hand and it can also take a more powerful shot without damaging her wrist too much.**

***Fun fact* The Rifle actually has some truth to it. Whenever I play tennis, my shoulder tends to crack a lot (most of my bones crack rather easily but it doesn't hurt for some reason) and it relaxes my arm, but I can't return the ball like my character does…if only…**


End file.
